Louisville, KY sewer gas explosion, February 1981. Courtesy of courier-journal.com.
“Those Who Do Not Remember the Past Are Condemned to Repeat It” George Santayana, Spanish-American Philosopher, Essayist, Poet, & Novelist
Contributed by: Richard T. Cartwright PE, CHMM*, CPIM*. Connect with Richard on LinkedIn and at Richard.Cartwright@mecx.net.
Hazardous Materials Management 365 Days a Year: February Events
February 1, 2003: Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated while re-entering earth’s atmosphere over Texas, where all 7 crew members died. Eighty seconds into its launch on January 16th, a piece of foam insulation had broken off from shuttle’s propellant tank & hit edge of shuttle’s left wing.
February 1, 2012: Stampede occurred during soccer riots in Port Said, Egypt; where 73 people died.
February 1, 2004: Stampede occurred during religious pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, where 251 people died.
February 1, 1974: Skyscraper fire occurred in Sao Paolo, Brazil; where 179 people died. Good news the 25 story building was built of armored concrete, which was specifically fire-resistant. Bad news is the building contained flammable items as its furniture, desks, chairs, even cubicle partitions. Ceilings were made of tiles, prepared from cellulose fiber tiles, strapped in wood. Even the carpets & curtains were made of flammable substances. No emergency lights fire alarms fire sprinkler systems, or emergency exits were fitted to the building. There was only one stairwell, which ran the full height of the building. No evacuation plans had been posted in the case of a fire.