Logan Township, NJ Chemical Explosion, Dec 1977

TRAGEDY STRIKES -- 4 ARE STILL MISSING IN CHEMICAL EXPLOSION.

Logan Township, N.J. (AP) -- Firemen and rescue workers warned to clear out after a series of explosions and fires spread toxic fumes at chemical processing firm were to resume searching for four missing persons today.
Two persons are known dead and 10 injured, four of them critically, from the blast and fire at the isolated Rollins Environmental Services Inc. plant here. About 20 firemen later were nauseated and choked by acrid fumes and treated at nearby hospitals, authorities said.
"If my boss hadn't moved me away 10 minutes before the blast, I guess I'd be dead right now," said JOHN MASCIARELLI, 18, of Pennsauken, a construction worker. All of the dead and injured were construction men working on expanding the firm's storage tank facilities.
"Me and my buddy pulled one guy out of the fire. His clothes were burning ... he looked like he was hurt pretty bad," MASCIARELLI added.
Other witnesses said they saw "a huge column of fire several hundred feet into the sky" and pieces of metal sent flying by the spectacular blast.
Although no one knew what caused the blast, Richard Sernyak, sales manager for the company that disposes of and reprocesses chemical wastes, said "a welding spark" could have ignited the inferno.
Twelve of 14 tanks in a cluster were reported destroyed or damaged and leaking about three hours after explosions and fire. Asked what was in the tanks, Sernyak replied: "You name it, we got it."

The Daily Intelligencer Doylestown Pennsylvania
1977-12-09

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BLAST VICTIMS TOTAL 5.

Bridgeport, N.J. -- The discovery of three bodies Friday brought the number of construction workers killed in a series of explosions and flash fire Thursday to five.
Rescue workers scoured the remnants of what was a tank farm on the Rollins Environmental Services 212-acre tract where wastes from oil refineries and other chemical firms are processed.
The three found dead yesterday were identified by Dr. Roger B. Lovelace, Gloucester County Medical Examiner, as WALTER BAUMGARTNER, 49, of Moorestown; JOSEPH MACEY, 24, of Pune Pine Hill; LOUIS SACCOMANNO, of Camden.
The three bodies were discovered about 10 a.m. by rescue workers wearing breathing devices to protect them from fumes hovering about the site's rubble, Dr. Lovelace said.
All three bodies had been burned severely and taken to the mortuary in nearby Pitman.
The two identified previously as killed are DANNY SIMONS, 56, of Philadelphia, and ROBERT SHARER, 23, of Gloucester Township.
SANTE GIORGI, 33, of 528 Willows Ave. in Folcroft, and MARK ACHILLES, 21, of Blackwood, N.J., are still listed in critical condition in Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Upland, with 25 and 78 per cent burns respectively.
Of the two, GIORGI is faring better and "resting comfortably." He was able to talk on the telephone Friday evening but declined to comment on the events.
All of the men were employes of the Joseph Trofe and Sons Inc. construction company.
They were part of the 24-man crew who were making renovations and building a loading dock at the Rollins plant.
The initial explosion, the biggest of five, reportedly was touched off by a welder's torch.
The three bodies found Friday were located near the base of a battered tank believed to have been the source of the explosion chain and which contained 10,000 gallons of chemical waste.
According to Lovelace, all victims of the explosion now are accounted for.

Daily Times Primos Pennsylvania 1977-12-10

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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!