Never Forget July 5th 1973 11 Kingman Firefighters Lost their Lives

July 5th 1973 11 Kingman firefighters lost their lives protecting their community.

The explosion occurred during a propane transfer from a Doxol railroad car to a storage tank on the Getz rail siding near Andy Devine Avenue/Route 66. The incident began when a hair line crack in the side of the tanker was leaking non smelling gas that was ignited by static electricity this caused a spark that ignited the leaking propane gas, this was discovered after a long investigation and trial was conducted. The initial fire badly burned the two railroad employees present, one of whom later died from his burns. The burning propane gas escaping from the valve connection on the rail car quickly heated the liquid propane inside, increasing the tank pressure. This in turn increased the leak and fire, further heating the tank car

Firefighters Memorial Park in Kingman is dedicated to those 11 firefighters who died in the BLEVE