Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D10525-2
Date(s)
- 1940-12-02 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
On Monday, December 2, 1940 at 7:11a.m., the Columbia Powder Co., located at Frederickson 10 miles southeast of Tacoma, was rocked by a devastating explosion as 2,000 pounds of dynamite ignited. The explosion killed four workers and reduced the two story frame mixing shed of the plant to splinters. The blast was felt for 30 miles. Luckily more workers were not on site at the time of the explosion; a crew of 65 men was due to report to work at 8 a.m. The plant was new, having been built 6 years prior, and barricades built within the plant as safety measures prevented the plant from being completely leveled. It would be after the New Year before the plant could resume operations as the mixing plant provided the raw materials for the other plant processes. Colombia was one of four powder plants in the state. (T. Times 12/2/1940, pg. 1)
Industrial facilities--Frederickson; Nitrates; Chemical industry--Frederickson; Explosions--Frederickson; Disasters--Frederickson; Columbia Powder Co. (Frederickson);