New Jersey Fire's Anniversary Evokes Frightening Memories

May 10, 2004
Monday is the 70th anniversary of one of the more spectacular refinery fires that occurred during the years in which Bayonne was the oil-refining capital of the world
Monday is the 70th anniversary of one of the more spectacular refinery fires that occurred during the years in which Bayonne was the oil-refining capital of the world.

The fire broke out shortly after midnight on May 10, 1929 in the filling room of the Vacuum Oil Company's plant on the Kill van Kull waterfront, next to the docks of the Asiatic Oil Company.

The blaze raged out of control for eight hours as five storage tanks caught fire. One of them - a naphtha tank with a capacity of 1,500 barrels - exploded. The blastdestroyed the conveyor that carried cans through the plant's various manufacturingand filling processes.

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