Miscellaneous - Blast Wrecks Unadilla House, July 1948

Blast Wrecks Unadilla House

July 19, 1948

 

Mrs. Anna Kehr, who has been employed as a housekeeper at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Bliss, in Bainbridge, for the past five years, miraculously escaped injury while visiting her sister, Mrs. Emma Weber, in Unadilla [Otsego Co., NY], when the Weber house at 31 Prospect avenue, was demolished from an explosion of a gas water heater, Monday night, about 7:20.  Mrs. Weber, who suffered severe burns in the explosion, died at 11:30 Monday night at the Hospital, Sidney.  Severely burned also was John Vroman, Sr., 70, of Depot street, Unadilla, who is reported to be in a very critical condition at the Hospital , Sidney. 

 

It is reported that the gas water heater had been causing Mrs. Weber a great deal of trouble, so she called Mr. Vroman Monday night in an attempt to have it fixed.  Mr. Vroman arrived at the Weber home, accompanied by his wife and grandson, William Kehr, eight-year-old son of Mrs. William Casper, Main street, Unadilla, shortly before the explosion.  Mrs. Vroman and William had gone to an upstairs bedroom to visit Mrs. Anna Kehr, who had been in ill health and had been staying at the Weber home for several weeks.  They were all upstairs at the time of the explosion and were uninjured, except William, who was on the stairs.  His hair was singed. 

 

In the meantime, Mrs. Weber and Mr. Vroman had gone to the cellar to inspect the heater.  Apparently, gas had accumulated for some time in the basement from the defective heater, and the explosion occurred when Mr. Vroman lighted a match. 

 

Several eye witnesses to the explosion declared that the blast, which blew out the entire north and south walls of the cinder block house, lifted the entire structure off the foundation.  Edwin LeFever, a neighbor, who had been working in his garden almost directly across the street, arrived at the scene just in time to see Mr. Vroman stagger form the front entrance with his clothing on fire.  He told Mr. Vroman to roll on the ground to extinguish the flames. 

 

LeFever hurried to the rear of the house, where they could hear Mrs. Weber calling for help.  LeFever assisted by another neighbor, Roscoe Wright, went into the cellar and saw Mrs. Weber lying on the floor several feet from the heater.  After smothering her burning clothing with a blanket, they attempted to carry her from the cellar.  the cellar stairs collapsed, but with the help of Mrs. LeFever, they managed to lift Mrs. Weber out, and she was taken to the Hospital, Sidney, in the Joyce ambulance.  Mr. Vroman was taken to the Hospital by the Unadilla Emergency Squad. 

 

The explosion caused an unestimated amount of damage to the two-story building.  In addition to the two sides of the structure, more than on-half of the front side collapsed.  There was no fire, however, except for the brief flash of the flame when the blast first happened, it is reported.  Witnesses said the entire dining room floor, immediately above the section of the cellar where the heater was located, was lifted up to the ceiling of the room.  Later it was discovered that two legs from a chair in the dining room were driven through the ceiling by the force of the explosion.  In the same room was a built-in- china closet which apparently escaped unharmed.  The closet, it was found, contained dishes which remained unbroken. 

 

Mr. Vroman is a retired mail carrier with 37-1/2 years of service.  Funeral services will be held for Mrs. Weber, 68, Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Silvernail Funeral Parlor, with the Rev. Archie Benedict officiating. 

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Funeral Today For Unadilla Blast Victim

Unadilla—Second victim of the explosion which wrecked the Prospect Avenue house on Monday, July 19, died in Sidney hospital Monday night John W. Vroman, 70, died at the Sidney hospital. He was critically injured at the time that Mrs. Emma Weber's gas water-heater exploded completely wrecking her house. Mrs. Weber died that same night, July 19, at the Sidney hospital. A private Masonic funeral service was held Wednesday night. Regular services were held in St. Matthew's church today at 2 p. m. conducted by the Rev. Francis Blake. Burial was in St Matthew's church yard. Mr. Vroman was born in 1878 at Blenheim, son of Adelaide and James Vroman. He married Ella Laraway in 1899. Except for a short time spent in Wells Bridge they had lived all their married life in Unadilla. Mr. Vroman retired early this year as a rural mail carrier. He had served 38 years. He was a member of the Masons, Unadilla Fire Department and the Episcopal Church. He is survived by his wife, three sons, Stuart and Charles of Oneonta, and John of Unadilla; two daughters, Mrs. Ernest Bundy of Cobleskill and Mrs. Stanley Casper of Unadilla; a sister, Mrs. Grover Root of Wells Bridge; a brother, Arthur Vroman of Otego, and 13 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. [Binghamton Press, July 29, 1948]