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:
“To awake your dormouse valor, to put fire in your heart, and brimstone in your liver.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which as they kiss consume.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“And taken by light in her arms at long and dear last
I may without fail
Suffer the first vision that set fire to the stars.”
—Dylan Thomas (19141953)