Let’s remember when a gasoline tanker exploded on the Viaduct, on this day in 1975 (December 4)
This would be a bad day to be stuck in traffic.
From Daryl C. McClary and HistoryLink:
Early Thursday morning on December 4, 1975, in Seattle, the driver of a tanker truck hauling a full trailer of gasoline loses control of his rig in the southbound lanes of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, in the south end of downtown Seattle adjacent to Pier 48. The truck jackknifes and the trailer overturns and ruptures, spilling 3,700 gallons of gasoline onto the roadway, which erupts into a wall of flames. Fortunately, the accident causes no deaths, but six electrical trunk lines are incinerated, leaving several downtown buildings without power including the Seattle Municipal Building and the Public Safety Building, which houses the Seattle Police Department. Property damage is estimated to be at least $750,000.
Bummer.
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