25,000 gallons of propane explode

It was spectacular to say the least. It's always spectacular when 25,000 gallons of propane explode. It happened on a Wednesday night in 1972 in Clarksfield at a Northern Ohio Propane facility. Tanker-driver Alphonse Karhoff, 47, from Pandora, Ohio, was unloading his tanker when a spark ignited an explosion. Fortunatly, Karhoff, although burned on his hands and face, ran as fast as he could, recognizing all hell was going to break loose ... and it did. The primary explosion that followed heaved the tanker 100 yards from where it was parked. It slammed into a house trailer, incinerating it and a house that was owned by Northern Ohio Propane employee Conrad Lucal. The Lucals also had just enough time to flee the scene, their legs also saving their lives. The tanker also sheared off a huge pine tree. The loss was set at $250,000. The closest department with man-power on duty was Norwalk. Chief Elmer McGuckin responded with the on-duty shift. They complimented seven other volunteer department from that area. The department laid approximately 1,500 feet of hose from a river north of the blaze. The New London Department started to haul water immediately, eventually hauling 50,000 gallons, according the Chief Al Walters. The initial blast was just a fraction of the danger that firefighters would face as house-size propane tanks suddenly became super-heated and started exploding, sending tanks a thousand feet in every direction. Other storage tanks, some as big as 10,000 gallons, had to be cooled or they too would have exploded as the fire became hotter and hotter. The fire burned for hours. All the firefighters could do was spray water on the tanks that were already hot enough to make pressure release valves scream and hope the truck pumps would continue operating. The original blast was felt as far away as New London (eight miles away). The initial fire ball was seen as far as Monroeville. Sheriff John Borgia was just one of many enforcement officers at the scene. He best summed up the situation. "I saw firefighters in positions I could not believe. I just know it scared the devil out of me as to how close they got to those tanks in order to hit them with enough water to keep them cool." Hubans looks to 1973 St. Paul Coach Bill Hubans was satisfied with his team's 8-1-1 record even though it did not win him a Firelands Conference football title. He tied with Edison, a game behind New London. "We are going to have to fill some holes on the lines but as far as backs returning we look to be solid plus we have a young man by the name of Chuck Borgeson who will give us some help. He has tremendous potential as shown by his scoring five times in one freshmen game." St. Paul has Chuck Hohler back at quarterback and Jim Soisson and Bill Rospert returning as ball carriers. The Flyers have a 28-game win streak at Whitney Field. St. Paul finished 12th in the final United Press poll, one stop behind New London. Marion Pleasant won the small school (Class A) title while Columbus Bishop Watterson won AA with Clyde tied for 10th. In AAA, the title went to undefeated Massillon. South Central MVPs It was the South Central players who picked the team's most valuable players, and they voted for Marty Sanders and Rick Minniear. Both play on the offensive line and on defense at linebacker. Coach Ron Minard presented four-year letters to Sanders and Chuck Rinehart. Varsity letters went to 19 players but only six of them were seniors. Truckers go inside Coach Len Hardman saw 13 players show up for his initial basketball call. That numbers is hoped to bump up to 16 once the football players show. They were getting some time off to heal up. Senior Dan Kerkhoff and junior Scott Schillig are the only returning lettermen.There are four other seniors hoping for a spot on the varsity. That list includes Rand Laycock, Chip Schaechterle, Ned Loughridge and Doug White. The Truckers will be trying to improve on their 14-4 record of last year but one that ended with a bad taste in losing to Bellevue in the final game, losing the NOL title in the balance. The Truckers tied for second with Willard in the league race. Bowling numbers John Schaechterle, operating for Brooker Bros. Forging, started his season with a 178 game and then caught fire, smoking the lanes on 245 and 234 games. In the Friday Night Owls League it was Jack Toney the best. He carved out a 596 total with a best game of 215. Gloria Kinney was the best among the ladies, heaving a 537 series on the strength of two strong games, 175 and 199. Hyde is Edison MVP He didn't make many headlines but when the votes were counted by the team, it was senior center John Hyde winning the MVP honor, getting more votes than headliners like Dan Pritt and Gene Fernandez. Coach Jim Whittington presented gold footballs for third-year honors to Fernandez, Pritt, Dave Gormley and Ralph O'Hara. Bibb has talent back Western Reserve Coach Bibb might have a back-breaking first three weeks (Clyde, South Central, St. Mary and Monroeville) but he might have the players to counter that kind of opponent. He has returnees Barney Yaussey, Tim Weisenberger, Ron Strimpfel and John Chapin to build around. DDT the answer Nope, not the weed killer. Roger Holman cites desire, determination and teamwork to get the job done during the1972-73 season. Holman is going to have to do it with more than that as he has just two veterans returning, senior guard Keith Ridge and senior forward Tom Rekart. Holman has high hopes that reserve players Steve Fries and Tom Oliva can help. Dale Rinner and Jim Soisson could also fit in. The junior candidates are Chuck Hohler, Tom Gahagan, Mark Schaffer and Bill Rospert. South Central loaded All teams in the area will be watching South Central, a team that truly is loaded. And Terry Hunt's team did not let the area down. They played well, making it all the way to the Canton Regional. And the reason they packed their gymnasium every night as well as every gym on the road is because they had a pair of running guards in Glen Honeycutt and Dale Bond, and a 6-7 center in Tom Kramb who averaged 19.6 points last year. On top of that, Hunt also had two other solid players in 6-2 junior Guy Ebinger and football quarterback Chuck Rinehart. Willard has some big boys Bob Haas can put the tallest team by far on the court this year. His starting lineup could measure 6-10, 6-5, 6-5, 6-4, and 6-2. The key to season unquestionably is 6-10 Mike Buurma. Last year was Haas' first at Willard and it was a good one as the team won 14 of 20 games. Saves life with a knife A former Norwalk resident, Robert Grimesey, a 1947 graduate of Norwalk St. Paul, is credited with saving the life of his hunting partner, 73-year-old Henry Beckman. The two were among several hunters having dinner in a remote area in northern Idaho. When Beckman started to choke on a piece of steak, every life-saving maneuver failed. That is when Grimesey went into action. He used his hunting knife to perform a sort of tracheotomy, opening Beckman's airway. Grimsey later explained that his wife, a nurse, talked about this kind of last-resort operation is necessary if a life is to be saved. She described just how to do it, never thinking her explanation would actually be used. Two of the hunters loaded the unconscious Beckman into a keep and drove him to Missoula, Mont., located just over 100 miles away. Emergency procedures were immediately done and the patient recovered fully with the exception of a minor sore throat. Grimesey lived in Norwalk until 1953 when he moved to Idaho where he is a nuclear physicist. Don Hohler is a longtime reporter and correspondent for the Norwalk Reflector.