War and Peace Monument - Texas City, TX - Firefighter Memorials on Waymarking.com

"The Texas City disaster of April 16, 1947 was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of the largest non-nuclear explosions. Originating with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp (docked in the Port of Texas City), its cargo of approximately 2,300 tons (approximately 2,100 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate detonated,with the initial blast and subsequent chain-reaction of further fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities killing at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department. [...]

Firefighters Memorial:

Some of the deaths and damage in Texas City were due to the destruction and subsequent burning of several chemical plants (including Monsanto and Union Carbide), oil storage, and other facilities near the explosions. Twenty-seven of the twenty-eight members of Texas City's volunteer fire department and three members of the Texas City Heights Volunteer Fire Department were killed after an attempt to extinguish the fire on the first ship in what was one of the worst 20th century firefighter tragedies. More firefighters died at one time than had ever died in any previous fire in the nation. One firefighter, Fred Dowdy, who had not responded to the initial call, coordinated other firefighters arriving from communities up to 60 miles (100 km) away. Eventually two hundred firefighters arrived, from as far away as Los Angeles. Fires resulting from the cataclysmic events were still burning a week after the disaster, and the process of body recovery took nearly a month."

Source: (visit link)

The memorial itself is a granite obelisk titled "War and Peace", located in Texas City's Memorial Park. A plaque at the bottom of the obelisk reads:

"MEMBERS OF THE TEXAS CITY VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE DISASTER OF APRIL 16, 1947".

The plaque includes the names of all the local firefighters who perished during that dreadful disaster.

Memorial Website: [Web Link] Physical address: 29th St N Texas City, TX 77590

Visit Instructions:
A clear image of your visit.
A brief description of your thoughts and feelings.
NO copyrighted images.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   05/11/2022 TaryntheGreek visited it 09/10/2016 _ILMOP_ visited it 05/01/2016 jhuoni visited it 06/23/2013 Raven visited it

View all visits/logs