1973 - July 5th the Tank car #38214 was setting in the hot sun on a spur in Kingman, Arizona that the Williams Energy Company leased from the Santa Fe Railroad. The car carried 33,000 gallons of propane gas which was to be transferred to storage tanks 75 yards away.
This was at the Doxol Gas Western Energy Co. bulk plant (2512 East Highway 66), in the Hilltop business district on Kingman's southeast side. At approximately 1:30 p.m. the tank car caught fire while being unloaded and a huge explosion occurred which injured more than 100 persons and has left 12 persons dead.
The accident was the worst fire-fighting disaster in Arizona and among the top ten worst to have occurred in the U.S. - until Sept. 11, 2001.
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