SMELL OF GAS, THEN DEADLY BLAST ONLY 1 SURVIVED 1971 TUNNEL DISASTER THAT KILLED 17.Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW Staff Writer SYLMAR -- First came the gas, then an inferno that blew Ralph Brissette across the subterranean tunnel. And, in the darkness, the screams of fellow miners. His best friend stumbled over him, begging Brissette to walk with him to safety. ``I was blown to the ground face down,'' Brissette said, tearing up as he recalled the Sylmar tunnel explosion 35 years ago today. ``I felt burned. I couldn't get up. ``I heard other people calling for help ... The next thing I remember, I was in the hospital.'' His friend, Will Carter, never made it. He was among 16 miners and a Metropolitan Water District inspector killed in the June 24, 1971, blast. Brissette was the lone survivor. Nearly five months after the Sylmar Earthquake of 1971, the blast became the worst tunnel disaster in California history, and would spawn the toughest mining and tunnel regulations in the nation. The explosion also sparked the longest Municipal Court trial in U.S. history, which resulted in the highest municipal fines and some of the greatest civil damage awards of its time. Lockheed Shipbuilding & Construction Co., found guilty of gross negligence An indifference to, and a blatant violation of, a legal duty with respect to the rights of others. Gross negligence is a conscious and voluntary disregard of the need to use reasonable care, which is likely to cause foreseeable grave injury or harm to persons, property, or and violation of state safety laws, was fined $106,250. Two employees also were fined. Lockheed paid $9.3 million in civil judgments. In the end, the 5 1/2-mile tunnel that was meant to help ferry a billion gallons of state water a year from Sylmar to La Verne La Verne (lə vûrn), city (1990 pop. 30,897), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1906. La Verne, which began as a citrus-processing center, now has varied manufacturing, including electronic components, apparel, hand was never used. And the 17 men killed have nearly been forgotten. In the hills below Pacoima Dam Pacoima Dam is a variable radius arch dam on Pacoima Creek in the U.S. state of California. It is also known as Reagan Dam. The dam is situated in a canyon five miles (8 km) northeast of San Fernando. , where sobbing widows had once watched the cloth-draped bodies of their husbands emerge from the tunnel's east portal, there is silence. ``There hasn't been a memorial or anything,'' said John Spradley, 78, of Sylmar. ``I think there should be ... (The miners) lost their lives for us.'' ``It was a tragic incident. It really saddens everybody associated with it,'' said Eddie Rigdon, MWD MWD Metropolitan Water District of Southern California MWD Measurement While Drilling (oil drilling) MWD Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (stock symbol) MWD Molecular Weight Distribution MWD Military Working Dog manager of water system operations, employed by the agency during the explosion. ``Today, we work so hard in the training and protecting of employees. ``Today, in an instant, that job would be shut down.'' The first sign of trouble in 1971 came the day before the explosion. Brissette, a ``brakey'' operating the conveyor that excavated muck and rock behind the 140-foot-long tunneling machine, said he smelled an odor ``like gasoline.'' The smell made him dizzy. Pressure on his ears preceded an orange-color flash at the face of the tunnel. The fire, which left several men injured, forced Lockheed to shut down operations through the next evening to install additional ventilator ventilator /ven·ti·la·tor/ (ven´ti-la-tor) 1. an apparatus for qualifying the air breathed through it. 2. a device for giving artificial respiration or aiding in pulmonary ventilation. fans. It was 11 p.m. June 24 when the graveyard shift graveyard shift n. 1. A work shift that runs during the early morning hours, as from midnight to 8 a.m. 2. The workers on such a shift. Noun 1. for what was then known as the San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. Tunnel boarded the rail cart for the 5-mile journey to the tunnel face, nearly 2,000 feet from completion. Brissette, who had grown up in Phoenix, made enough money mining that he could drive a Mercedes-Benz 190SL The Mercedes-Benz 190SL was a two door grand touring convertible with a removable hardtop. It was produced by Mercedes-Benz from 1955 to 1963. The 190SL was sold alongside the faster, more expensive Mercedes-Benz 300SL, which it closely resembled both in its styling and in roadster and ``live fast'' in Pacoima. He liked the work. But the former high-rise construction worker, who'd left the heights for below-ground tunnels for safety reasons, now smelled flammable flam·ma·ble adj. Easily ignited and capable of burning rapidly; inflammable. [From Latin flamm methane gas. Lots of it. ``They had the earthquake there, and it likely liberated the gas, which is not uncommon,'' said Richard Hughes The name Richard Hughes can mean the following people:
No one knows how the gas ignited just past midnight. Brissette was likely saved from the blast by standing behind a mine locomotive. He lay seven hours in a puddle before rescuers found him in the smoke-filled shaft. Incoherent, burned and cut, with a fractured arm, Brissette from his hospital bed kept asking about his buddies, not knowing their fate. ``He's a miracle,'' said his sister-in-law, Bernice Brissette, 69, of Pomona, who was at his bedside. ``It took him years to get over that -- years. ``He was in and out of hospitals a long time because of his trauma. He kept saying, `Why did I survive and my buddies, with kids, died?''' For years, he had nightmares. He couldn't sleep. He tried to work in the mine again, but couldn't. He tried driving a truck, he said, but the cab seemed too confining. Finally, he opened Ralph's Bait & Tackle in South Los Angeles South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural area lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. and ran it for 14 years. Now 68 and living in Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. , Brissette is an easy-going eas·y·go·ing also eas·y-go·ing adj. 1. a. Living without undue worry or concern; calm. b. Lax or negligent; careless. c. man with a thin mustache and soul patch Noun 1. soul patch - a small patch of facial hair just below the lower lip and above the chin Attilio beard, face fungus, whiskers - the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face who believes he was spared by God. ``He said that there was a purpose to me. I try to do that by giving advice to younger people. It's made me a better person.'' For years, his associates say, Brissette helped the families of his deceased crew, taking their kids to baseball games Noun 1. baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League . Married but childless, he now assists his disabled wife. Three days a week, he volunteers to teach construction skills and to mentor tough teens for the county No Child Left Behind after-school program. Some Sundays, he attends church services with the homeless at the Midnight Mission on Skid Row skid row a run-down area frequented by alcoholics. [Am. Culture: Misc.] See : Alcoholism Skid Row district of down-and-outs and bums. [Am. Usage: Brewer Dictionary, 1008] See : Failure . When he can, he delivers stuffed animals
A stuffed animal is toy animal stuffed with straw, beans, cotton or other similar materials. Some stuffed animals are very old – home made cloth dolls stuffed with straw go back to at least the to seniors in nursing homes. Nearly 20 years ago, he testified in Sacramento on behalf of the then-threatened California Occupational Safety and Health program, to fight for tighter rules that would save lives. But few know how he was ultimately spared from the fiery blast that killed his friends. ``It's something I shall never forget,'' he said, wiping away a tear. ``I never forget those 17 guys. I've often thought of them and their families. ``They were hard workers, honest men. I know they wanted to live, like I did. I wonder why it was me (who was saved). I do believe that prayers can and will be answered.'' dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3730 CAPTION(S): 4 photos, box, map Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Workmen emerge from the San Fernando Tunnel in Sylmar after an early morning explosion killed 17 workers 35 years ago today. Ralph Brissette, below right, was the lone survivor. Daily News Evan Yee/Staff Photographer (3 -- 4) Ralph Brissette, above, the only known survivor of the Sylmar tunnel explosion of June 24, 1971, recovers at Pacoima Memorial Lutheran Hospital. From left are his sister-in-law Bernice, brother Douglas Jr. and an attendant. Today Brissette, above left, is 68 and lives in Culver City. Box: DISASTER VICTIMS Source: ``The Sylmar Tunnel Disaster'' by Janette Zavattero Map: 1971 Sylmar Tunnel Explosion |
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