Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 89, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 February 1910 — NINE INJURED; 6 SERIOUS [ARTICLE]

NINE INJURED; 6 SERIOUS

Explosion of 400-Gallon Tank of Benzine Proves Disasfrous. Building Wrecked and Firemen Hurt In Crash Loss Will Exceed SIOO,OOO0 —Fireman May Die. Akron, 0., Feb. 11.—Nine men were Injured, six of them seriously, and one perhaps fatally, when a 400-gallon tank of benzine exploded while firemen were battling with flames originating In an earlier explosion in the big rubber factory of the Lyon Rubber company here. The second explosion wrecked the big building, the walls falling on a group of firemen and the head of the company, O. G. Lyon. Adjoining buildings were shaken three blocks distant. Loss exceeds SIOO,OOO. R. L. Jackson, a fireman, may lose his life because of his injuries. His eyesight was destroyed, his right hanl crushed to a pulp and his left mangled. Fire Chief John L. Mertz and Firemen Frank Rutman, Oscar Stair and George Fink suffered serious Injuries under the falling wall.