http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Ohio_Fair_Explosion

What a freak accident.  And, what a horrible thing to happen at a county fair.

Mike

Let's see if I can make it link

You gotta be careful when you boil water in a sealed container. My father had this thing in his fireplace that heated water and circulated it through some radiators, to improve the room heating efficiency. One evening, it exploded. It blew the the contents of the fireplace through the glass fireplace doors into the room. Luckily, no one was hit by any of it. All the furniture, carpeting, curtains, etc. were trashed by the fire or the water used to put it out.

I was at a pumpkin festival a few years ago, and I saw these old and quaint steam engines just chugging along.  They weren't very big, but if they have he potential to explode and kill, it is very deceiving.

Ban steam engines?

i posted this same story at assweb.

did you guys see the pics? nasty! the boiler "looked" intact, but they only showed the side away from the blast effects. (perhaps the oil fuel tank blew...or was fueled with gasoline?)

i go to two live steam events, every year...better believe steam is nothing to screw up with.

Los Angeles Times: Fifth Injured in Fair Explosion Dies

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-fair-explosion0805aug05.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnation%2Dheadlines

Fifth Injured in Fair Explosion Dies
By Associated Press

August 5 2001

CLEVELAND -- A fifth person has died from injuries suffered in the explosion of
an antique steam-powered tractor at a county fair.

Bryan Hammond, 20, of Homerville died Saturday, a nursing supervisor said
Sunday. Hammond had suffered burns and shrapnel wounds in the July 29 explosion
at the Medina County Fair, about 25 miles southwest of Cleveland.

Nine people remained hospitalized Sunday, including a 12-year-old who was in
serious condition.

Tractor owner Cliff Kovacic, 48, his son William Kovacic, 26, and a friend, Alan
Kimble, 46, died immediately following the explosion. Dennis Jungbluth, 58,
later died at a hospital.

Investigators said the tractor exploded when a gush of water hit red-hot metal,
causing a rapid expansion of steam. It is not known why the water was low enough
to allow the metal to overheat.

The explosion sent steam, hot water and shrapnel flying for hundreds of yards.
About 50 people were admitted to area hospitals.

On Saturday, Gov. Bob Taft silently bowed his head on the spot where the tractor
exploded, marked with bouquets to honor the dead and injured.

"We're going to look at what kinds of policies, what kinds of inspections, what
kinds of requirements at the state or local level could help prevent a tragedy
like this from occurring again," Taft said.

On Friday, the governor assigned Commerce Director Gary Suhadolnik and
Agricultural Director Fred Dailey to review Ohio's steam tractor regulation
policies and compare them with policies in other states to determine if more
stringent procedures are needed.

Copyright 2001 Associated Press

BAN STEAM!!!!-DO IT FOR THE CHILDREN!!!!!

What is sad is that these guys are trying to keep a part of history alive with their beautiful old machines, much like colletors of old weapons do. My heart goes out to the victims of this tradegy.

the dover, ohio steam show is in two weeks. i'll be there. dover is about 70 miles from medina. most of the guys that dispay their machines at medina will be at the dover show.

there should be some very interesting conversations at this year's show.

The Medina Fair was a part of my old stomping grounds.

I used to work with one of the cops that was hospitalized when I worked for Medina S.O.

I've been told that it was one ugly situation:
Glad I wasn't there to see it.

Jay
Arizona