Blast from the Past: Dec. 9, 1944

Being a company town, and given the dangerous nature of the company, Hercules has seen its share of accidents and tragedy. In fact, three explosions rocked our little town in a span of just over eight years. Sixteen men lost their lives in these disasters. This post examines the first.

On Dec. 9, 1944, an explosion felt 20 miles away obliterated a nitroglycerine neutralizer and storage house, leaving nothing but two deep craters. Two men were killed in the blast, and 25 others were injured, including one woman who suffered a fractured skull when the ceiling of the recreation hall in Triangle Park collapsed.

The neutralizer and storage buildings were connected by a v-shaped gutter. Nitroglycerine traveled from the neutralizer by gravity to the storage house, where it fell into tanks of water to cushion its fall. One observer had a theory about the cause. "Whatever happened, it happened at the storage. That nitroglycerine running in the gutter, it just fused it right on up to the other building and blew up the two buildings at the same time."

Another survivor gave a vivid account of the event. "Even before I heard the blast, something seemed to force the air out of my lungs. It seemed a long time before I could regain my breath." The force of the explosion "damn near wiped out every window in the village." With the calendar reading December, the Powder Company worked quickly to put up tar paper over the broken windows to keep out the freezing winds.

That the explosion took place during war time provided extra challenges. The Navy took over the Village and plant to ensure anyone coming or going checked in. The FBI also arrived to investigate possible enemy sabotage, although no evidence was ever found.