Friday, November 21, 2014
UPI news brief on the barge explosion
Every once in a great, great while, when I search for news of this fatal blast of 1978, I find something new. Such as this article from United Press International. I knew Lt. Morse fairly well; he arranged a feature I did some other time for Today's Sunbeam, when we spent a day on the cutter Red Oak. Maybe I should pay a visit to the Seaport Museum someday, since that's where the .pdf below originates:
Blast Victim Found
DELAWARE CITY, DEL. (UPI) – The U.S. Coast Guard today reported finding the remains of a body believed to be that of a man missing after Monday’s explosion of a barge laden with 15,000 barrels of jet
fuel.
Lt. Thomas Morse said the remains, found aboard the tug, would be sent to the Delaware medical examiner’s office today for identification. Steven Lynch, 21, a tanker man aboard the barge, was reported missing after the explosion touched off a fire that sent billowing black smoke skyward. The blast, which occurred shortly after noon near the Getty Oil Refinery, claimed the life of at least one other victim – 21-year-old Gary Forrester of North Carolina – and injured two people.
The barge owned by Interstate Oil Transport Co., a Philadelphia firm, had just been loaded with jet fuel and was being pushed away from the refinery by a tug when it ran aground in sand and blew up.
It was about 20 yards offshore.
A Coast Guard spokesman said Interstate planned to send a diver down today to investigate the explosion and to begin salvage operations.
“The barge is in two sections,” said Coast Guard Ensign John Kelly. “The rear of the barge is submerged and the front is partially above water."
Here is the link to the .pdf I just found.
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