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Aiken Standard in Aiken, South Carolina

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This newspaper page contains 3 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.

Newspaper

Aiken Standard

Location

Aiken, South Carolina, United States of America

Date

Jan 27, 2009

Page

10

Explosion linked to shoe as gas blast kills workers

Weeks was one of ten killed in the January 27 1953 Jones Electric explosion. Owner Jimmy Jones started the business that morning and opened the basement vent to exhaust gas when a switch sparked the blast. He survived but colleagues perished. Bob Osbon a then junior at Aiken High photographed the devastation, his image later distributed widely.

Weeks Jones Electric Jimmy Jones Jones Bob Osbon Aiken High School Trinity Lutheran Home Osbon Greenville Harry Triloppe Rocky Owens McCreary's Rocky

Explosion Devastates Downtown Aiken Leaving Six Buildings Lost

A 1953 blast in Jones Electric caused five more businesses to burn on the same block. Firefighters from H-Plant and Augusta took 33 minutes to arrive, with 200 workers battling flames and rubble. Estimated damage reached $2,000,000 as rescuers saved four people from the debris amid a city shaken by fear and heroism.

H-Plant Augusta Jones Electric Holley Hardware Platt’s Drug Store R.W. McCreary’s Diana Shop Liles Drug Company Holley Paula Moore Joy Albrecht Moore SAS McCreary’s Aiken Savannah River

Unaccountable calm amid disaster saves stranger in explosion

A dramatic rescue recounts Miss Weeks remaining calm as doctors feared amputation after an explosion. Marie Chandler, pregnant and nearby, fled the blast with neighbors, while others from Jones Electric survived. Fire, collapse, and fumes shaped a frantic scene with focused acts of bravery.

Also Mentioned on This Page

Hiken Albrecht Betty Thompson Germany Alice Jhant Earl Norris Young Creative MD Et al Foor Miss Weeks Marie Chandler Sam Thompson Platt Thompson Marie Platt’s Platt's Trailer City Chandler Dillard’s Dillard's
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