Fire
The fire began from a negligent guard's cigar stub at Porokhovaya (now Lagernaya) railway station, the nearest to the plant. Shells, detonated at the station, set fire to the nearest depots and workshops. Oil tanks, placed on the bank of the Kazanka River, also caught fire. Workers from the plant fled to the opposite suburb of the city, spreading panic over the city. Many soldiers deserted the city, setting panic in the neighboring villages. The rumors said that over 500 were already killed, and Kazan Kremlin as well as the industrial area was totally destroyed. According to rumors, it would be a major explosion and toxic gassing as far as 80 kilometers from the city, as a wind blew from the plant to the city. Many of Kazan's 200,000 population fled, afoot and by trains. Ships were driven 20 km away from Kazan.
Read more about this topic: 1917 Kazan Gunpowder Plant Fire
Famous quotes containing the word fire:
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched seabeams glitter in the dark near the Tennhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to die.”
—David Webb Peoples, U.S. screenwriter, and Ridley Scott. Roy Batty, Blade Runner, final words before dying—as an android he had a built-in life span that expired (1982)
“My paternal grandmother would not light a fire on the Sabbath and piled all Sunday’s washing-up in a bucket, to be dealt with on Monday morning, because the Sabbath was a day of rest—a practice that made my paternal grandfather, the village atheist, as mad as fire. Nevertheless, he willed five quid to the minister, just to be on the safe side.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter, and is about as ample at one season as at another. It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)