You asked for stories so I decided to send you one. This is my recollection of an event that took place in the storage area at Bitburg AB, Germany during the Winter of 59-60. It involved teams 1 and 9 of the 5th TDS. I am relating this story because it may explain why some of the things we do may seem unnecessary, but are the corrective action as the result of an incident.
We were working in a building with one bay door and two personnel access doors. The interior of the building had the normal rooms: battery room, capsule room, records room, office, break room, latrine and two bays (electrical and mechanical}. We had a Forward Inspection Team {FIT} shelter assembled next to the bay door. A FIT shelter, very similar to a Jamesway, is a canvas Quonset type shelter. It comes packaged in large plywood boxes which become the floor when the building is assembled. We used this building for painting weapon skins, along with the shipping boxes and barrels. The shelter was heated with a gasoline powered Herman Nelson Heater. Heat was provided from the heater through yellow plastic 24" expandable tubing.
We had a Mk 7 disassembled and was proceeding with a storage and assembly inspection. I was working in E-Bay with about six 331X0s. There were about seven or eight 463X0s in M-Bay. Two Weapons Maintenance Teams (WMT) worked out of this building but at the time we only had one weapon disassembled.
The Herman Nelson Heater ran out of gas so A1C (E-4) Detwiler was sent out to refuel and restart the heater. He was accompanied by another Airman. They filled the heater with 7 gallons of gas from two 5 gallon gas cans but the heater would not start without priming. A paper cup was filled with gas and Detwiler proceeded to pour the gas into the carburetor. The cup ignited so Detwiler threw it. In order to avoid getting hit with the burning fuel, the airman with Detwiler jumped back kicking over the partially filled gas can, which they had neglected to put the cap on during the refueling process. The can was on the upside of a step slope so the gas ran down hill to the FIT shelter. Upon hitting the wooden flooring the gas went both directions and under the FIT shelter. The spilled gas was ignited almost instantly as was the unoccupied FIT shelter.
A1C Detwiler came through the personnel door into the mechanical bay and told Earl Bordelon, "the Jamesway is on fire", Bordelon thinking it was a " butt" can told Detwiler "take that fire extinguisher and put it out", pointing to the bay extinguisher. Detwiler said, " it's too big for that". Bordelon looked out the door to see flames 20 feet high. He called out "fire" and get out of the building. We had a disassembled weapon which could not be moved and even if it could, we would have had to take the bare sphere through the fire. We evacuated the building and abandoned everything. I think it was Captain Barber, the OIC who informed the security gate and Fire Department we were evacuating.
We ran on a path through the woods and over a hill to the gate, some 300 yards but a much shorter distance than taking the road. I expected an explosion at any time as the flames rose well above the trees, but we couldn't see the building behind the trees and hill. I remembered being told at Sandia the HE would burn but when the instructor was demonstrating the burning of a 35 pound casting it blew up. We were probably the last class to get that little demonstration of confidence building.
Arriving at the gate we could not exit since the Air Police, having been notified of the emergency, had already departed. No fools among these guys. We decided we were probably far enough away so we waited for the fire trucks to arrive. We thought they could just crash through the gates. The fire trucks didn't have to crash in after all, because they did not arrive until the following day and a more sheepish looking group I hope to never see again. Of course, I only had the Air Police with which to compare them, who began coming back within a couple of hours.
When the flames subsided and it was apparent no assistance from the Base was to be expected, we decided to venture back to the building and see what we could salvage. The fire, even though, quite bright and furious for a time, seemed to die out rather quickly. Maybe two hours had passed.
The FIT shelter was completely destroyed as well as the 20 or so gallons of paint and thinner stored within and all the contents. The Herman Nelson Heater was also a total loss. The bay wall was badly scorched but had prevented the fire from consuming the weapon. The maintenance building was otherwise undamaged.
What was most significant was the corrective action which were applied Air Force wide. Some may still be in use today. I'll try to relate a few.
- The fire department said they could not locate the off-base weapons storage even though, we had been calling them once or twice a day as fire symbol signs changed on the buildings. A fire inspection was now required to be accomplished quarterly by a fire inspector and all weapons storage areas will conduct a monthly fire drill to include the fire department which will respond to an interior building
- All maintenance and inspection (M&I) buildings will have two bay doors for weapons entry and exit
- Only a one day supply of paint, oil and grease may be present in the maintenance area. Storage of bulk supplies will be kept separated from the maintenance building. Paint will be stored separate from oil and grease
- Weapon maintenance stands will be mobile
The Air Police coined a new term for their action. They called it "expanded security". That term was to be used years later for some emergency destruct plans. I laughed every time I saw it, since I knew its origin. The new policy was that Air Police must remain at their post to assist in emergencies until relieved.