Holland Tunnel fire

On the morning of Friday, May 13, 1949, a hazardous materials truck caught fire while passing through the Holland Tunnel, which travels under the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey. One firefighter was killed and 66 civilians were injured as a result of the fire. The 1996 motion picture Daylight, starring Sylvester Stallone, was loosely based on this incident.

Timeline

Ignition

At 8:30 a.m. a truck carrying eighty 55-gallon (210 L) drums of carbon disulfide entered the southern tube at the New Jersey portal. The tunnel has two tubes, the southern one for eastbound traffic and the northern one for westbound traffic. At the time, it was forbidden to carry carbon disulfide through either tube. After the truck had traveled east for approximately in heavy traffic, one of the drums broke free of its restraints, fell onto the roadway and cracked open. Vapor released from the drum was ignited when it came into contact with a hot surface, probably a brake shoe or exhaust pipe. Carbon disulfide vapor ignites when raised to a temperature of , so it was considered highly flammable; moreover, it could be deadly if inhaled in large amounts. The FDNY and JCFD called up 29 firefighting trucks of varying types and borrowed four more trucks with breathing apparatus from Consolidated Edison. In total there were about 63 emergency response vehicles (including police, medical units, Port Authority vehicles and supervisory vehicles).

Tunnel ventilation

At 9:45 a.m. the tunnel's built-in ventilation system was turned to full extract and full supply in the zone of the fire.

Two of the extract fans in the New Jersey vent shaft failed due to the heat of the fire; the shaft was approximately west of the fire, and was apparently drawing air at . The third fan was kept in working order by cooling it with a water spray. and the eastbound tunnel reopened to traffic on the evening of Sunday, May 15. The repairs were completed by mid-August 1949.

Restrictions

At the time, the driver of the truck could only be charged with a misdemeanor, which carried a maximum fine of $50 and a jail sentence of up to five days.

References

Sources

Haerter, A., Contribution to discussion on session E, pp. Z51–Z53, Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on the Aerodynamics and Ventilation of Vehicle Tunnels, Canterbury, 1973. BHRA 1974:
Riley, N. and Lelland, A., A review of incidents involving hazardous materials in road and rail tunnels, Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Safety in Road and Rail Tunnels, 1995;
Skinner, F., The Holland Vehicular Tunnel under the Hudson River, Engineering, 1927.
Singstad, O., Ventilation of Vehicular Tunnels, World Engineering Congress, Tokyo, 1929