Water tower explodes in 1978

I know I'll never look at a water tower the same way again.

10-ton water tower lid blown 150 feet

By Ken SmithPublished on January 19, 1978

MABTON -- Investigators say they may never know what caused an explosion Wednesday that ripped off a 10-ton lid from the top of a 120-foot town water tower.

Consulting engineer Preston Shepard of Yakima said he believes methane gas in the water may have exploded, but it isn't known what ignited the gas.

No one was injured in the 9:40 a.m. blast that shattered windows two blocks away. The quarter-inch steel top landed less than 10 feet from a duplex apartment 150 feet from the tower.

City employees said they found pieces of the lid throughout the town park where the tower is. Part of a fan to draw out the methane gas was found a quarter mile from the tower.

Witnesses said the blast had a teeth-jarring percussion throughout the town.

"I heard jet bombers crash when I was in the Air Force. That's what I thought had happened," said the Rev. Edwin Green of the Mabton Assembly of God Church.

He said he was in the church office across the street from the tower when the shock wave shattered 14 expensive stained glass windows and two light fixtures in the church sanctuary.

Town Marshal Manuel Costello, reported broken windows in his won house a block away, and said he was awakened by two explosions.

"There was a loud one followed shortly by a smaller one. The second probably was caused by the lid hitting the ground," he said.

Mary Watt said she was starting her car a half-mile away when she glanced at the sky blue tower as flames shot from around the top.

She saw the lid blow several feet straight up "and kinda float in the air like a frisbee" until it crashed into the front yard of the duplex, embedded more than a foot in the dirt.

Shephard said the shape of the 40-foot lid caused it to hover like a parachute reducing the rate of descent.

Mabton Mayor Thelma Satterfield said it isn't known if the town's insurance will cover the damage.

She said the city has plenty of water, but the tower will be closed for repairs and water transferred to an older tank next to it.

The problem-plagued tank was closed twice in 1976, shortly after construction.

The town used a 50,000-gallon tank for a few months while malfunctions in the the new tank's chlorine system were repaired.

"It really couldn't have happened at a better time," Satterfield said of Wednesday's explosion.

"There is enough water in the tower for five days if we get the old tank repaired and there are no dust particles to contaminate the well."

This story was originally published March 14, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Water tower explodes in 1978."