Ten minutes after he had finished fighting a fire aboard the Shipping Board steamer West Wind at Robbins Dry Dock at the foot of Dwight Street, John Keupp, of Hook & Ladder Company 101, was instantly killed by a hatch beam that came hurtling through the air from the deck of the tanker Charles M. Everest which had a violent explosion. The blast was believed to have been caused when the flame from an acetylene burner being used by repairmen, came in contact with accumulated gas in an oil tank. Keupp, who lived on Stockton Street, was just leaving the West Wind when the explosion occurred. The large piece of iron that came flying through the air struck him on the head, crushing his skull. (From "The Last Alarm" by Boucher, Urbanowicz & Melahn, 2007)
Ten minutes after he had finished fighting a fire aboard the Shipping Board steamer West Wind at Robbins Dry Dock at the foot of Dwight Street, John Keupp, of Hook & Ladder Company 101, was instantly killed by a hatch beam that came hurtling through the air from the deck of the tanker Charles M. Everest which had a violent explosion. The blast was believed to have been caused when the flame from an acetylene burner being used by repairmen, came in contact with accumulated gas in an oil tank. Keupp, who lived on Stockton Street, was just leaving the West Wind when the explosion occurred. The large piece of iron that came flying through the air struck him on the head, crushing his skull. (From "The Last Alarm" by Boucher, Urbanowicz & Melahn, 2007)
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