Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana Timeline

1966, February 3 Broadway Avenue House Explosion

February 3, 1966 around 10-10:30 a.m. the home at 3401 Broadway at Kinsmoor Avenue, just north of Goutys Service Station, 2 blocks north of the Bluffton Road bridge, had an explosion.

20° on February 3, 1966

Weather Underground shows the temperature was around 20° that cold winter morning.

A Tri-City newspaper story from Pasco, Washington has a photo above the explosion photo showing a frozen Niagara Falls.

3401 Broadway Avenue at Kinsmoor Avenue empty lot no longer numbered is visible on the Aerial View from Google Maps

130 comments January 13, 2022 and another 125 comments to a December 28, 2024 discussion of this explosion on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. v. Otis, 250 N.E.2d 378 (Ind. Ct. App. 1969) Indiana Court of Appeals August 27, 1969.

More fires and explosions on the Fire Police City County Federal Credit Union calendar archived on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

February 3, 1966 NIPSCO explosion on Broadway Avenue

November 27, 2017 Fort Wayne, IN: Broadway Natural Gas Explosion on Towns and Nature blog. Same BROADWAY EXPLOSION photo is one of thirteen Broadway Exposion photos in the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library.

National News Stories

Local newspapers after 1923 are not online. A story in the Chicago Tribune, Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, Linton Daily Citizen [IN - death notice], Leader-Tribune [Marion, IN], Richmond-Item [Indiana], South Bend Tribune Tri-City Herald, Pasco, Washington. The AP Wirephotos are all different from the thirteen Broadway Exposion photos in the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library.

1966 - Home Damaged in Explosion - Dazed victim of Fort Wayne explosion sits in snow outside home Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, Friday, February 4, 1966, Page 30.
1966 - Blasts Rip Fort Wayne Homes - continues with Indianapolis blast Leader-Tribune, Marion, Indiana, Friday, February 4, 1966, Page 1.

1966 - Broken Weld Blamed For Gas Explosions, Fire in Ft. Wayne

Article from Feb 4, 1966 Palladium-Item (Richmond, Indiana) 1966, Nipsco, Explosion, Broadway avenue
1966 - Broken Weld Blamed For Gas Explosions, Fire in Ft. Wayne Palladium-Item, Richmond, Indiana, Friday, February 4, 1966, Page 3.
1966 - Water, Please! Fort Wayne, Ind. Firefighter wait for hoses to be connected to wet houses Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, Friday, February 4, 1966, Page 5.

1966 - Fort Wayne Blast Injuries 3 Women

Article from Feb 4, 1966 The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Indiana) 1966, Nipsco, Explosion, Broadway avenue

1966 - Fort Wayne Blast Injuries 3 Women The South Bend Tribune, South Bend, Indiana, Friday, February 4, 1966, Page 4.

1966 - Fort Wayne Gas Blast Ruins - Fireman Fight Blaze

Article from Feb 4, 1966 The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Indiana) 1966, Nipsco, Explosion, Broadway avenue

1966 - Fort Wayne Gas Blast Ruins - Fireman Fight Blaze The South Bend Tribune, South Bend, Indiana, Friday, February 4, 1966, Page 17.

1966 - Everything Available But Water - Hurt In Blast (Unidentified Woman in snow) Tri-City Herald, Pasco, Washington, Friday, February 4, 1966, Page 24.

1966 - Woman Burned in Fort Wayne Explosion Dies - Mrs. Dorothy Swain, 47, one of 3 women burned Linton Daily Citizen, Linton, Indiana, Friday, February 11, 1966, Page 1.

Woman Burned in Fort Wayne Explosion Dies

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (UPI) - Mrs. Dorothy Swain, 47, one of three women burned when an explosion ripped a Fort Wayne residential area last week, died today at Lutheran Hospital.

Mrs. Swain lived in one of the two houses blown apart by the blast which was traced to seeping gas.

Mrs. Clara Shipley, 77, remains in poor condition and Mrs. Regina Otis, 38, in fair condition at the hospital.

 

Dorothy E Swain Memorial on Find A Grave.

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