‘Oh my god! Run!’: The day a deadly wave of molasses tore through Boston

[Right_in_Virginia]

‘Oh my god! Run!’: The day a deadly wave of molasses tore through Boston
A century ago, a giant tank filled with syrup ruptured in one of Boston’s busiest neighborhoods. The flood killed 21 and hurt 150.
Washington Post, Jan 13, 2019, Robert S. Davis

It was promising to be an uncharacteristically warm winter day in Boston. The temperature on Jan. 15, 1919, had soared to 40 degrees from 2 degrees earlier in the week, prompting many downtown workers to head outdoors.

Shortly after noon in the city’s bustling North End, as Model T Fords chugged by and elevated trains screeched above Commercial Street, a group of firefighters sat down for a game of cards in a firehouse near a massive tank that stored molasses used in the production of industrial alcohol.

As the firefighters puzzled over their hands, they heard a strange staccato sound. The rivets on the 50-foot-high storage tank began to shoot off and a dull roar followed. At the noise, firefighter Paddy Driscoll whipped around. “Oh my god!” he exclaimed as he saw the dark torrent spilling out. “Run!”

The Great Molasses Flood was underway. The syrup swamped one of Boston’s busiest neighborhoods, killing 21 and injuring 150.


More:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/01/13/oh-my-god-run-day-deadly-wave-molasses-tore-through-boston/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e184a4770758