ROSEBURG BLAST: A Catastrophe and Its Heroes
Watch related "History Minute" video.
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For longtime Oregonians, it’s something they never forgot.
- For new Oregonians, it’s a fascinating slice of history.
- This film is stirring up a lot of memories.
Narrated by longtime ABC national correspondent, Barry Serafin, a Roseburg teenager at the time, Roseburg Blast chronicles one of the worst disasters in the history of small-town America. "The Blast" took place in Roseburg, Oregon on August 7th, 1959, a few hours after a delivery truck, loaded with six-and-a-half tons of dynamite and a blasting agent, drove into the city core and parked. At 1:14 a.m., a small fire broke out nearby and within minutes the truck itself exploded.
In a scenario all too familiar to anyone recalling the events of September 11th, 2001, rescue workers rushed to the scene to respond to the original fire only to be the first casualties of the explosion itself. When the firestorm was finally controlled, 13 people were dead and 125 injured.
Out of this catastrophe came heroes, ordinary people who gave everything they had, sometimes even their lives, to save the lives of family and friends, and to save their home town.
Awards:
Roseburg Blast editor and producer, Victor Dailey, Production Manager at Southern Oregon Public Television, received the 2005 Videographer Award of Excellence for this film. He also accepted the Society for Professional Journalism’s Northwest Excellence in Journalism Award for SOPTV staff at a ceremony on Saturday, May 21, 2005 in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Premiere:
The premiere screening of ROSEBURG BLAST: A Catastrophe and Its Heroes took place at the Douglas County Museum in Roseburg, Oregon on Saturday, August 6th, 2005. Over 300 people came to three showings of the film.
Credits:
- Executive Producer: Greg Frederick
- Producer/Editor: Victor Dailey
- Writer: John Darling
- Narrator: Barry Serafin
- Graphic Design/Publicity: Susan Ekstrom
1 VIDEOCASSETTE: UNABRIDGED
28 MINUTES
A production of Southern Oregon Public Television
Copyright 2004
All rights reserved
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Is it possible to purchase a copy of this documentary? My father was a salesman for Hercules Power Company and tried to get a motel room in Roseburg that night but could not find a vacancy. So he was not there when the explosion happened.
Your request has been forwarded to the proper department, but if you prefer, you may purchase a copy of this program by contacting Joyce at 541-779-0808, ext. 229.
I lived in Roseburg, Oregon at that time and witnessed the brightness of the blast. If my memory serves me correctly, there was no dynamite on the truck. It was a load of fertilizer. The truck was parked by the lumber yard where the fire began. Two men were attempting to break into the truck to move it when it exploded. I was on the front porch with my friend Ed Meredith who lived in Lookingglass and was spending the night. The blast caused our picture window to break, and was so bright, I could see the hillside across the Umpqua river in detail.
I lived in the Green area, we had screens that the window sat on, the blast blew the screens from the windows. I guess the blast traveled up the river and caused it to happen. I remember driving to town with my dad and brother Jim. Jim worked at the Coke plant in town close to the blast, he just got home when the blast happened. We could only go to Nielsens Mkt, and we could not go any closer. Remember it well. Tommy Barrong
I lived a 5-minute walk from Tommy Barrong and was rolled out of bed just after 1:00 AM, but never woke up as I had just finished a 16 hour double at the plywood mill. I had been in bed about 10 minutes.
My Brother Don was called minutes later by his National Guard unit
and told to report for duty.
The house was 3 ½ miles from Roseburg in the Green district, I was 18 at the time.
Good Job by Barry and John on the program;
They are a couple friends from the broadcast business.
Regards,
Joe Michael
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How could the problem of the roseburg blast be solved?