{"id":2292,"date":"2012-11-14T12:55:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T12:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=2292"},"modified":"2021-12-24T11:13:23","modified_gmt":"2021-12-24T16:13:23","slug":"gas-explosions-in-1927-on-pittsburghs-north-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/14\/gas-explosions-in-1927-on-pittsburghs-north-side\/","title":{"rendered":"Gas explosions in 1927 on Pittsburgh&#8217;s North Side"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular tiled-gallery-unresized\" data-original-width=\"800\" data-carousel-extra='{&quot;blog_id&quot;:1,&quot;permalink&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\\\/thedigs\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/14\\\/gas-explosions-in-1927-on-pittsburghs-north-side\\\/&quot;,&quot;likes_blog_id&quot;:80752127}' itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\" > <div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 800px; height: 604px;\" data-original-width=\"800\" data-original-height=\"604\" > <div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 800px; height: 604px;\" data-original-width=\"800\" data-original-height=\"604\" > <div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\" itemprop=\"associatedMedia\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/14\/gas-explosions-in-1927-on-pittsburghs-north-side\/attachment\/2293\/\" border=\"0\" itemprop=\"url\"> <meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"796\"> <meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"600\"> <img data-attachment-id=\"2293\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdeci1rxx31rr5swxo1_1280.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1280,965\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdeci1rxx31rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=300%2C226&#038;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdeci1rxx31rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=800%2C603&#038;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdeci1rxx31rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?w=796&#038;h=600&#038;ssl=1\" width=\"796\" height=\"600\" data-original-width=\"796\" data-original-height=\"600\" itemprop=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/image\" title=\"\" alt=\"(Pittsburgh Press photo)\u00a0\" style=\"width: 796px; height: 600px;\" \/> <\/a> <div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\" itemprop=\"caption description\"> (Pittsburgh Press photo)\u00a0 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <!-- close group --> <\/div> <!-- close row --> <\/div>\n<p><strong>Nov. 14, 1927:\u00a0<\/strong>Two of the world\u2019s largest gas storage tanks dominated the North Side. On a dreary Monday morning, workers with acetylene torches climbed atop one tank to make repairs. Though the tank had been emptied, a faulty valve had allowed the entry of a dangerous mix of gas and oxygen.<\/p>\n<p>At 8:43, one 20-story-tall tank was propelled into the air, then exploded. The concussion devastated the immediate area. Houses collapsed on Reedsdale Street. A block-long section of the Pittsburgh Clay Pot Co. was reduced to a pile of bricks. Windows shattered throughout the North Side, the Golden Triangle and the West End. Across the Ohio River, commuters heading from McKees Rocks to Downtown were left bloody and shocked when windows on a trolly burst into thousands of pieces of flying glass.<\/p>\n<p>Later that day, a Pittsburgh Press photographer took this aerial photograph, which reveals the extent of the damage. Most of the 28 killed were working atop the tank or in the nearby Pittsburgh Clay Pot building. A portion of that collapsed building is seen at the bottom of the picture, which we found broken and deteriorating in our files. Busted water lines flooded the district.<\/p>\n<p>The tanks were never rebuilt. Today, the Rivers Casino occupies the site.<\/p>\n<p>Learn more about the 1927 gas tank explosion in this installment of the Post-Gazette\u2019s \u201cPittsburgh History\u201d video series.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative; display: block; max-width: 100%;\">\n<div style=\"padding-top: 56.25%;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/players.brightcove.net\/1105443290001\/rVxJ4pprh5_default\/index.html?videoId=1270497015001\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"encrypted-media\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0px; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; left: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The tanks were never rebuilt. Today, the Rivers Casino occupies the site.<\/p>\n<p><a class='more-link' href='https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/14\/gas-explosions-in-1927-on-pittsburghs-north-side\/'>Look at the pictures<span class='screen-reader-text'>Gas explosions in 1927 on Pittsburgh&#8217;s North Side<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[958,980,985,988,1244,1046,1048],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdeci1rxx31rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C965&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":286,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/09\/05\/gertrude-gordon-pittsburghs-pioneering-journalist\/","url_meta":{"origin":2292,"position":0},"title":"Gertrude Gordon, Pittsburgh\u2019s pioneering journalist","date":"September 5, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"She was game to travel anywhere for a good story and once even entered a cage filled with circus lions for that purpose.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/tumblr_nbe99ygnZ91rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C762&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1256,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/10\/30\/possible-mad-butcher-victims-in-mckees-rocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":2292,"position":1},"title":"Possible \u2018Mad Butcher\u2019 victims in McKees Rocks","date":"October 30, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"A search of other cars in the yard turned up two more bodies, also headless.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/tumblr_mvfvvrbyTW1rr5swxo3_1280.jpg?fit=1152%2C734&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2244,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/29\/christmas-shopping-in-1972\/","url_meta":{"origin":2292,"position":2},"title":"Christmas Shopping in 1972","date":"November 29, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Pittsburgh\u2019s Downtown sidewalks were bustling and dressed in holiday style on December 22, 1972.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdr8mukqGt1rr5swxo1_500.jpg?fit=500%2C413&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":660,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/05\/16\/uncovering-the-mckees-rocks-indian-mound\/","url_meta":{"origin":2292,"position":3},"title":"Uncovering the McKees Rocks Indian Mound","date":"May 16, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"A boy with a baseball bat swung at a root. Except it wasn't a root. 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