Tradeston Flour Mills explosion

On 9 July 1872 the Tradeston Flour Mills, in Glasgow, Scotland, exploded. Eighteen people died, and at least sixteen were injured. An investigation suggested that the explosion was caused by the grain feed to a pair of millstones stopping, causing them to rub against each other, resulting in a spark or fire igniting the grain dust in the air. That fire was then drawn by a fan into an "exhaust box" designed to collect grain dust, which then ignited, causing a second explosion which destroyed the building. At the time, there were general concerns about similar incidents worldwide, so the incident and investigation were widely reported across the world.

Background

The mill was owned by Matthew Muir & Sons, had been in operation for thirty years, and consisted of a five-storey grain store on King Street (now Kingston Street), another grain store that occupied most of a four-storey building on Clyde Place, and a four-storey grain mill building between the two, with three boilers and an engine shed attached. This occupied the majority of the block surrounded by Clyde Place, Commerce Street, King Street and Centre Streets, with Gorbals Free Church, the Bute Hotel, some shops and some dwelling houses taking up the rest of the block. ==Explosion==

Explosion

At 4 pm on 9 July, just as the day shift was about to finish, a large explosion blew out the front and back of the mill building. The buildings were then engulfed in fire. This brought the total of deaths to eighteen (fourteen employees of the mill, three residents on Clyde Street and one employee of the Bute Hotel), with at least sixteen injured. Victims ==Investigation==

Investigation

Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at Glasgow University Macquorn Rankine and Dr. Stevenson Macadam, who lectured in Chemistry at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, were asked by an insurance company to investigate the cause of the explosion. They interviewed survivors, visited operating mills, and studied similar incidents, and published their report on 9 August. They theorised that the explosion was caused by a spark or fire from a pair of millstones igniting the finely ground flour dust in the air. and London's The Pall Mall Gazette, to Fort Wayne's Daily Sentinel and The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. ==See also==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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