Niles Daily Times Friday June 11, 1954

Four persons are in critical condition today after their bodies were seared by an explosion of undetermined origin which destroyed the titanium melting furnaces at Mallory- Sharon Titanium Corporation at 6:10 this morning.

Still listed as critical are: Marvin ‘Jack’ Hodginson, 24, West Park Avenue; Donnie McCormick, 22, Mineral Ridge; Harold Clark, 30, North Road; and Richard Hopkins, Leavittsburg. Lloyd Snyder, DeForest Road, Warren, remains fair.

Four others received minor injuries, three of whom have already been released from Trumbull Memorial Hospital. Released from Trumbull Memorial Hospital were: Edward Blatchford, 56, 78 Helen Avenue, Niles; William Lamb, 19, RD 1, Mineral Ridge; Woodrow Wilson Murray, 36, MC 54, Warren, Ohio. Soon to be released from the hospital with only a dislocated shoulder and minor burns is Phillip Harbersen, 19, 1048 East Liberty Street, Girard.

The early morning explosion shook the city. Although the exact cause of the explosion is not known it is reported that it might possible have been caused by a water leak from the watercooled crucible which is used to melt the titanium. The furnaces are electrically operated.

Niles Fire Department trucks arrived to quell a fire which had started in the lower part of the melting plant building. The fire, although not extensive, prevented the escape of several of the men from the plant trough the usual exits. Two of the men were taken down from the roof of the plant by use of ladders by other workers.

Another of the men supposedly Donnie McCormack was rescued from a window on the second floor of the building near the blast area. Both Marvin Hodgekinson and McCormack were reported in the main blast area. All five critically injured had their clothes completely seared from their bodies.

A crew of 15 to20 regularly work with the melting furnaces. George Disko, one of the workers on the melting operation had just left the main area when the blast occurred. Disko, a veteran of World War II, said it was the worst thing he had ever seen. The blast so burned their bodies they never had a chance he said. Tom Granger, another of the workers, who had also just left the main area when the blast occurred said that he saw McCormack hanging out of the second story window. Granger helped carry McCormack from the burning building after placing a ladder to the second story.

Effects of the disabling of the titanium melting plant will be extensive, to the titanium industry according to odicials of the plant. It is reported that workers of other plants melting titanium in Pennsylvania have quit work and refuse to return until the exact cause of the explosion is determined and corrected.

Niles Daily Times June 1954

Four seriously burned victims of the titanium furnace explosion at Mallory-Sharon Titanium Corporation Friday continued critical today. Meanwhile odicials of the corporation estimated the property damage at approximately $200,000.

It was also reported today that odicials of the corporation have not been able to determine the cause of the explosion. (ED. Later it was discovered that water contaminated the titanium process which caused the explosion). They also said it will be some time next week before it can be estimated just when operations will be resumed.

Clean-up operations went ahead immediately following the blast and by Friday afternoon only the stripped structure which housed the titanium furnace gave evidence of what had happened. Sheet metal men, riveters, and plant maintenance men worked all day Friday cleaning up and repairing as much as possible of the damaged structure. Damaged was a section of wall approximately 30 feet wide and four stories high at the north end of the plant. The explosion smashed approximately 200 small panes of glass in the titanium plant and in the Niles Rolling Mill.

The main titanium furnace was badly shattered and masses of metal sheet and tubing reached high into the structure. James Roemer, President of Mallory-Sharon, engineers and other staff members will confer with the injured men as soon as possible in an effort to learn exactly what happened.

Niles Daily Times June 14, 1954

No sabotage was involved in the blast which took place at the Mallory-Sharon Titanium Corporation Friday morning, Federal Bureau of Investigation odicial reported today.

Meanwhile two of the blast victims who received burns over 90 per cent of their bodies died during the weekend. Donald Mcormack aged 23, Main Street Extension Mineral Ridge died at 9 pm Saturday in Trumbull Memorial Hospital. He was born March 24, 1931, in Mineral Ridge, a son of Henry A. and Mable Jones McCormack and had spent his entire life in Mineral Ridge. He was employed as a furnace operator at the Mallory-Sharon Titanium Corporation.

Marvin John Hodgekinson, 702 west Park Avenue, died in Trumbull Memorial Hospital at midnight, Saturday June 12. He was born July 18, 1930, in Niles, a son of Howard and Meeker Hodgekinson. He is survived by his wife, the former Georgina Heitman, to whom he was married three years, and his mother

Niles Daily TimesJune 25,1954

The death toll of the Mallory-Sharon Titanium corporation plant explosion of June 11 rose to four with the death last night of Harold Allen Clark, 30, of Rt. 6 North Road Trailer Park. Clark died in Trumbull Memorial Hospital at 11:10 pm Thursday as a result of third degree burns over his entire body. Clark, a World War II veteran, came to Niles in October 1951 and had been employed as an operator at the Mallory plant. Clark was born in Freeport PA August 11, 1923, the son of Allen and Jane Clark.

The third victim was Richard Hopkins Jr. of Leavittsburg who died June 14.