This is an unusual one for me, because I'm pretty sure this is the first time I'm writing a post on this blog about an event which happened within living memory. I hadn't been born yet when the terrible explosion happened on route 209 in Marshalls Creek (or Middle Smithfield Township, or East Stroudsburg - the area seems to have three different names, which isn't unusual around here), but I know several people who had. If my grandparents were still with us, I'll bet my grandfather would have been able to tell me a lot about it.
Last week I shared my experiences at the marker dedication at the spot on the highway where six people were killed in horrendous circumstances. This week, we're going to have a look at those circumstances, and I'll be asking my readers for their help concerning the victims.
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| The marker stands at 5175 Milford Road (Route 209) by the Regina Farms garden center, at the site of the blast |
Truth be told, some of Koda's later testimony contradicted itself, so I'm not completely sure which bits were accurate. What we know for certain is that shortly after this, another truck driver - Joseph Horvath of Scranton - was passing the scene and saw that the tractor trailer was on fire, so he drove to the nearby Regina Hotel and used their outdoor pay phone to call the fire department. This was at approximately 4:02 a.m. He then returned to the scene and, helpfully, parked his truck so that the headlights shone directly on the burning vehicle. As the fire trucks arrived minutes later, he left his truck and went to see if he could be of help to the firefighters. John Regina, son of the owners of the Regina Hotel, was also alerted to the fire and making his way to offer assistance.
At 4:10 a.m., the tractor trailer exploded. It carried no placards indicating the nature of its contents, so the firefighters were unprepared for such a thing. Horvath and Regina were killed instantly; so was a woman in a nearby car, Lillian Paesch, and three of the firefighters - Edward Hines, Leonard Mosier, and Ralph Miller. I'll get to them near the end of this post. In addition to the six deaths, between ten and thirteen people (sources vary slightly) suffered assorted injuries from the blast. Two fire trucks and the truck that Joseph Horvath was driving were destroyed, and multiple other vehicles were damaged. A crater, ten feet deep and forty feet wide, was left in the wake of the explosion.
The local buildings were not unharmed either, with many homes and businesses within a one-mile radius being affected. The Regina Hotel, from which the fire had first been reported, was damaged so extensively that the owners - already distraught over the loss of their son - later had it demolished. The Middle Smithfield Elementary School was significantly damaged and initially thought to be a complete loss, though it was eventually reopened in 1965. Most frightening of all, the Pocono Reptile Farm was decimated by the blast, sending hundreds of venomous snakes flying through the air. Those that weren't killed had to be hunted down because of the danger they posed to the rescue workers and the community at large.
The incident, as tragic as it was for eastern Pennsylvania, later had a much farther-reaching impact. After a decade of fighting, the Transportation Safety Act of 1974 and the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of 1975 were enacted. If the placards had been on the burning tractor trailer, rather than in the cab with Albert Koda, the firefighters would have known what was about to happen and could have responded differently. Instead, they thought they were dealing with a routine vehicle fire, and three of them (plus the three bystanders) paid with their lives. The transportation acts are federal laws regulating the transportation of hazardous materials by, among other things, requiring the constant presence of informative signage on all vehicles transporting explosive materials. The hope was, and remains, that this will prevent future tragedies like the one in Marshalls Creek.
Attention readers: Your help is needed.
Sources and Further Reading:
Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.
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