Newark Shakes

Explosion in New Jersey

One giant fireball shot 1,000 ft. into the air. Windows shattered and burglar alarms were touched off for miles around, and residents of communities almost 100 miles away reported that their homes shook. In the predawn hours last Friday, a thunderous explosion ripped through three towering gasoline tanks at a Texaco storage facility in Newark. The blast killed one man and injured 21 others. After using water and foam to contain the blaze, hundreds of fire fighters watched as the giant vessels slowly began to burn themselves out. By daylight the tanks, filled with some 3.4 million gal. of gas for service stations in New York and New Jersey, were flaming mounds of crumpled metal. Fire officials are investigating the cause of the explosion. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.