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Public Library, 56 Yonge N., Richmond Hill Ont ,; M]?Wl//gvl. Wmny . .. Wm/MW/mw - p ,, WW. ,W/lt/J l Night OI*Horror Told By Citizens A tired and battered group of people were still reliving the hell that had been the holo- caust of explosions and fires which took place at the Superior Propane plant in Maple Sat- . urday night. Neil Campbell of “The Liberal",news staff was in Maple Sunday, talking to some of the people who lived through the night in nearby homes. Their comments follow: By NEIL CAMPBELL “I don‘t remember anything at all about the ex- ..W/m :4 7////.7 m”... r, plosions,” recalled Hilda Gaskell, who lives with her , son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Dean Quinton, ' next door to the Joslin home. ‘ “One moment I was in bed, asleep. The rest of i the family was downstairs watching TV.,” she told us as we talked to her on the front porch of the Joslin 1 home Sunday afternoon. “The next thing I knew I was in a field behind our home, barefooted and carrying three left shoes under one arm. I don’t remember anything that hap- , pened in between.” 3 The Quintons had taken things a little morel calmly and were catching up on their sleep Sunday i afternoon. “It was just like the bombings in London, during the war," she said. David Joslin, son of the dead man, talked to us Sunday afternoon when doctors still held hopes for his father’s recovery, “You read about these things, but until they happen to you, they’re just a news- paper story â€" they aren’t real. “My son Jeff was lying on that couch right near the window," he pointed out. “Most of the glass from « the window wound up on the couch. He. would have i been cut to ribbons." The inside of the Joslin home was little more than a shell in the front part of the first floor and second floor. David said that his father had spent the last threeor four years rebuilding the house. “We won't build here again. Not if Superior Pro- pane rebuilds the plant here,” said Mrs. Louise Pin- eau, who saw her home burnt to the ground as a re- sult of Saturday night’s tremendous explosion. The Pineau home was right next door .to the‘ plant. “I don’t think anybody will want to live near this plant now," she said. ‘ Mrs. Pineau. her husband, their two sons, Ray- mond and Andrew, escaped through the back of their property. immediately after the blast occurred. Mr. Pineau was already in bed when the blast took place and Mrs. Pineau was watching T.V. The two youngsters were “sleeping out" in a leanto they had built in the back yard. Illiraculously, the backyard shack was left almost untouched. “We tried to climb the fence,’ said the still be- wildered Mrs. Pineau. “The first explosion frightened me so. I don't know how I cven got that far. My knees were jtlst like water. “My husband forced me to come with him, pull- ing me along. I kept telling him I couldn't go on. but I we made it some way." She and the two children spent the night at the home of Gordon Lines. in the Maple subdivision. (Contineud on page 12) .‘I-i.‘ v MRS. LOUIS I’INEAL‘ AND HER SON ANDREW ; STAND BEFORE RAZED HOME. “WW”, Jim 1 it? Mr. Joslin Mi". Joslin. Although leaking. Then NEWS ADVER- TISING CIRCULATION v01j784fNUMBERâ€"e llci'iiei“. .Iosliii. 31. a stock clerk Superior l’ropanc Ltd. was the lone fatality iii the spectacular series of tires and explosions which rocked the Maple plant late Saturday night. was fatally burned when he tried to prevent the first of a series of explosions. ('harles Robson of Richvalc. and were .Iosliii home across from the plant on Station Street when Mr. Joslin heard the sound of escaping gas. Mr. him. Mr. Joslin approached the truck from which the gas was apparently the hurled him through the air. .-\ccordiiig to witnesses, Mr. Josâ€" lin was covered up to his neck by a. mist-like substance. on 1?“ tier returning to the Robson warned first explosio' Mr. Robson ran to the plant and half helped. half steered the badly burnt man back to the house. At the beat out the flames enveloped Mr. same time he which had clothing. Doctors say that he had 90 per cent burns to his body. He was rush- ed to Richmond Hill by his wife Joan and Mr. Robson. and then taken by ambulance to Branson where he died Sunday night. Had Mr. Robson hesitated at his Joslin have been killed instantly by the second explosion, fire officials said. The dead man's dog Spot lay in his lap all the way to the hospital. Mr. Joslin’s son. David, of Rich- mond Hill, said that he and his family rescue attempt. Mr. ; One Dies In Maple Inferno had just returned to their Richmont first explosion took place. ‘IOSlms through until nine the next morn iiig," the whole town was flattened. Hospital pened. “When I was still living at home would recalls. don‘t think we thought it would Now it has.” “In Essentials Unity; In Non-Essentials Liberty; In All Things Charity" RICHMOND HILL, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 1962 PLAIIE BLAST . AT HALF MILLION MARK DEBRIS IS ALL THAT REMAINS OF HOME NEXT TO EXPLOSION (By Toby Shore) (Our Maple Correspondent) Many. many things and hap- penings. some sad. some ain- usiiig. will come to mind when Maple residents think back on the night of August 4. With lIlU>I of us the tipper- most thought will be of how fortunate we were that the casualties were so few and light. Shared by all who knew, respected and leved him â€" and they are legion â€" is the overwhelming loss of one of our own â€" lierb Joslin. the only fatality of our night of horror With the first blast. every- one seemed to realize it was "Propane" and did the senâ€" sible thin; â€" 111.} lcit :hczr homes fast and fled. The fac: that some were oddly and scantily attired wcnt unnotic- ed. While Maple residents mmed out of the area, the outsiders prepared to move in and traffic was congested over a wide area. With the Metro Police contiiigent‘s arrival to assist our own Vaughan Town- ship Police. our village was soon organized to handle all emergencies. First Aid Station Two first aid workers from Richmond Hill left their car outside of town and walked in with their large kit. when they found it was useless to buck the traffic We got talking to- gether and decided to set tip a first aid station in the back of the fire hall. Mrs. Joyce Harris of Wash- ington. D.C. was on her way north to enjoy a Canadian hol- iday with her family. Tlicy were nearing Maple when the first blast went oh" and. be- cause she is a nurse, she and . .his father saw gas gushing froml ‘a tank truck and ran to try and‘ i ‘ lstop it when it blew up in his. i Iface. l I her son came to ofi'er their help. Such neighborly thought- fulness was indeed appreciat- ed. Because of hydro power cutoff. the lst Maple Boy Scouts' two lanterns did yeo- man service. Peter Shore imy mainstay throughout the whole affair' picked up supplies from our house necessary for first aid treatment. Councillor Maurice \i‘indatt dropped by. When police questioned Wally Brown as to why he had taken it upon himself to dir- ect traffic at Maple's east ap- proach. \l'ally replied, “I was concerned for the safety of the people and since our pres- ident of the Lions Club is out of :own. I 8:5UlllCCI the res- ponsibility." "That‘s sure quite enouin for me." was the pol- iceman's reply, “Go ahead." Hill home only minutes before the “The police wouldn't let me back he said. “They told me that there had been a terrible fireâ€"that “But I still couldn't believe my eyes when I came down Keele Street next morning and saw what had hap- my friends and I used to bet each other on whether or not the plant would explode in a given time," he “Of course it never (lid. And I SON LOOKS HOME PAPER OF THE ; DISTRICT SINCE I878 PER COPY 10c AMAGE 'riictoc sroePED AT 1.29 Knocked OII Feet By Blast A Cari-ville Road man risked instant death to rescue his two children from near the heart of the inferno at the Superior Propane plain-t in Maple Sat- urday night. When the first explosion t: .. place James Ryan. canine con- trol officer, was at his kennels near Maple. His wife was in hospital just after having the Ryans' third child, a daughter. Ryan realized immediately the source of the explosion and that his two older children, staying with a babysitter on A series of propane gas explosions which rocked the village of Maple Saturday night and early Sunday morning killed one man, injured seven others, com- pletly levelled the $250,000 Superior Propane Ltd. plant, destroyed six houses, left another six homes un- fit for habitation and demolished two railway tank cars and 19 tank trucks. Officials say damage will ex- ceed the half-million dollar figure. The flame-filled explosions which started shortly after 11 pm. Saturday and continued through he early hours of Sunday morning left 18 families iomeless. r Another 26 families were evacuated from the area late Monday afternoon when officials feared further ex- plosions from tanks still burning in the devastated re- mains of the quarter of a million dollar plant on the outskirts of the village. Dead is Herbert Joslin, 51, company employee, who made a heroic attempt to stop gas es- caping from a tank truck in the storage yard moments before the first explosion occurred. He received severe burns to 95 per cent of his body and died Sunday night in North York Branson Hospital. Three persons received first aid at the scene and four others were taken to hospital for treat- ment but were later released. Maple Police and Fire Chief James Davidson said Tuesday that the three remaining tanks could “blow anytime". "There is still a lot of danger and all we can do is sit and wait for them to burn out or blow up". the chief said. Officials fear that if another tank does blow up, damage will be greater because the devasâ€" tated houses in the area would not be able to cushion another shock wave. Entrances Blocked Police are still blocking all entrances to the danger area. and no one except fire officials are being allowed in or out. Investigators from the On- tario Fire Marshal's office. the Provincial and Energy Resour- ces Board and the Provincial Labor Department said it could be days before they would know what caused the explosions. The first blast was in the north Wants Superior 'To Keep ’ Plant In Vaughan Twp. Vaughan Township should do everything in its power to retain the new Superior Pro- pane plant. This was the opin- ion expressed by all members of council Tuesday night. They expressed these views in reply to questioning from Michael Granger of Maple. Reeve A. H. Rutherford com- mented that the firm would be able to build in Maple again unless council decided to re- zone the area. He said that the township did not want to lose the jobs and taxes provided by the firm, but felt that people and lives were more important than either. Deputy-reeve J. Bryson re- called that nobody had thought the plant dangerous before the explosion. The company had just completed a head office on the site which was destroyed by the blast, he said. Before enacting council’s business, Reeve Rutherford asked its members, the press east section of the plant prop-land §Udience to observe a mo-‘ erty where a railway car hadlments Silence for Herbert Jos- becn unloaded and another \vasllin. “8 300d friend and member waiting to be unloaded. itely was a gas leak but that there was no indication of what‘ ignited it. David Joslin, son of the dead‘ man, told ‘The Liberal" that‘ Charles Robson. 47, of Rich- vale, who was visiting Mr. Jos- Just shortly after, the BIG lin. dashed into the yard, ONE went off and Wally re-through the searing heat and; membering his old army train- helped the badly burnt man to ing to “hit the ground and‘safety. cover your head." did just He said: “Herb‘s clothes and that, but was cut several places hair were on fire and he was i on his arm and burned by fly- screaming with pain. I half, ing hot metal. skinned his helped, half carried him across‘ nose and upper lip and his the road to his house. It was knees. Dr. Charlie Birkett dreadful." Visit Homes Vaughan Township Council on Monday sent a committee to, visit every home damaged by‘ the explosion. Reeve Albert Rutherford said that when an accurate picture 'of the damage is ascertained. we will decide what is needed to help those left homeless. St. John Ambulance Brigade set up a first aid centre in a burns and sent three to the shopping plaza on the east side Branson Hospital for treat- of the village and treated about merit and they were all releas-IIZ people for minor cuts caused tContinued On Page 11) (Continued On Page 3) I dressed his in and we were in business. As is always the case, ex- aggerated news spread out. side of Maple and nurses from the Villa Nursing Home, many St. John Ambulance Brigade members and Red Cross arriv- ed. expecting many casualties, but were relieved when Dr. Birkett said he had treated four with minor abrasions and 'of the community who gave his Station Street across the road from the scene of the explo- sion, were in grave danger. He jumped into his ear and headed for the scene, only to be stopped by a police road- block. Mr. Ryan set out on foot for the cemetery where he climbed the fence to take a ishort-cut to the Station Street home. “I was halftvay across the graveyard when the next explosion came. It knocked me over and by the time I was on my feet again. I had forgotten my directions," he said. “I lost my way because of the smoke and heat." When he finally found his way out to Station Street, he met the CNR station master and his family «running away rom the explosion. “Just as I was leaving them, the third explosion took place. When I got to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Dase' Archibald, who were looking after my kids, the windows and doors were all blown in. They were all huddled in the basemen ," Mr. Ryan said. “We took our children, the Archibald children and headed for the fields east of their house towards the sand quarries. We were only 150 yards from the rail tanker when it blew up.” “We had our backs to the blast but the heat and smoke was so great, that we thought the kids were in danger. We threw our- selves on top of them.” The two fleeing families had just gotten back on their feet when they met John McIntyre, 18, of Richmond Hill, who had seen the explosion and was heading towards town to help. He carried three year-old James Ryan the rest of the way to the stone quarries. Mr. Ryan carried his year- old son Sean until he met an- other Richmond Hill teenager, Gord Adams, who carried the frightened youngster the rest of the way to the quarries. Dave Marshall of Willowda-lo returned the two families to the Ryan home at Carrvillo Road and Dufferin Street. Mr. Ryan wasn't able to con- tact his wife in hospital until the next morning. “It was all pretty familiar to me. I lived through some of the London blitzes in World War Two,” he explained. Mr. Ryan spent most of Mom day rounding up stray dogs in An official said there defin-'life for the muniCiDality." the blasted area. Name Contest Winners Two Richmond Hill residents and a Maple resi- dent were among the first lucky winners in “The Lib- eral's giant FIX THE MIX-UP Contest. Mrs. P. A. Limpert, 446 South Taylor Mills Drive, won the modern coffee percolator, and Mrs. Betty Hatch of 328 Kerrybrook Drive won the lovely new electric fry pan. The Maple winner was Mrs. John Mitchell of Lancer Dr. in Maple, who received a wrist watch. \Irs. Limpert had an entry slip enclosed from '1 Hughes Shell Service Station located on Yonge Street North. Mrs. Mitchell made her purchase at: the George V irgus Hardware in Maple Plaza. On page 12 of this issue the second contest appears with many co-operating merchants. At the bottom of the page are nine anagrams. In order to take part, the contestant must fix up the anagrams to agree with the name of one of the advertisers. Get your entry form from any one of these mer- chants with a purchase of a dollar or more and enter now for a chance at the valuable weekly prizes and the trip for two to Nassau. Prizes for the second week will be a travelling case and L. P. Record, GE Electric Kettle and a GE Hand Mixer. All entries must be received by “The Liberal” not later than 5 pm. on Tuesday of each week.