PLEASANTVILLE GAS BLAST KILLS LEASE FOREMAN
Bert Fox Dies After He Opens Valve on High Pressure Line
Th scales which daily weigh the routine risks taken by oil production workers settled on death for one man in the Titusville region Saturday, February 14, 1953. Balancing the identical task for another man five minutes before the fatal judgement, the scales had favored life.
ERVIN BERTON "BERT" FOX, 55, of Pleasantville, Route 2, was killed almost instantly by an explosion of natural gas along a high pressure line on the lease of the Robert Foggan Estate, Oilcreek Township, Venango County, a property on which he was foreman. The cause of the blast is not known. He had opened a valve on the gas line's drip tank and was standing astraddle the tank - which was a 10-foot length of six-inch pipe raised a few inches off the ground - bending over, ready to shut off the hissing gas. Witnessing the accident at 11:07 a.m., deep in the woods along the upper reaches of Cherry Run, was Claire D. Caldwell, 52, of Plumer. Only a few minutes before the blast, Mr. Caldwell had opened the same valve, and in exactly the same way. Mr. Caldwell, now 100 feet west of the drip tank and facing it, was bending over to pick up something when the hiss became an ear-splitting blast. Looking up, he saw Mr. Fox's body and the drip tank about eight feet in the air. The tank fell back nearly on the spot from which it had shot up, hurling Mr. Fox with it. Mr. Caldwell ran to his friend's side. Mr. Fox looked at him, said "Oh, Claire," and dropped into what Mr. Caldwell thought was unconsciousness. "I'm going for help," said Mr. Caldwell, but he doesn't think the mortally injured man heard him. Running through the woods nearly 1,000 feet up a slope toward the power plant, Mr. Caldwell shut down the machinery, jumped into his pickup truck and drove about a mile to the nearest house which he knew had a telephone and which someone was apt to be home. This was at Bert L. Mangel's home, across the Pleasantville-Plumer road from the East Shamburg Church. A Titusville ambulance responded to the call, reaching the power plant about 11:45. Guided down the gas line to the scene of the woodland tragedy, Raymond Arnold made certain Mr. Fox was dead. Leaving the body there pending a call to the coroner, Mr. Arnold drove to the White City road, turned south, and at a neat white house on a lane a short distance below the old school, broke the news to Mrs. Fox. The widow asked to be taken to the scene, which from her home was about a half mile away, eastwardly through the woods. Dr. Maurice Dinberg, of Oil City, Venango County Coroner, after being told details, said the body could be moved, since he wouldn't be able to come out right away. Following a visit to the Arnold Funeral Home in Titusville Saturday afternoon, he issued a certificate of accidental death. The cause of the explosion can only be surmised. Most of the thawing fires has smoldered out; Mr. Caldwell is firm on the point that those nearest the tank were not burning. The closest was about 20 feet away. Mr. Fox smoked tobacco - a pipe and cigarettes - but Mr. Caldwell said yesterday that his friend was too careful a workman to be smoking while performing tasks around an open gas valve. Mr. Caldwell does not recall whether Mr. Fox had a pipe in his mouth at the time. The possibility exists that he did, and that he thought it was out, but that a glowing ash or two remained and fell out as he bent over the valve. Or a large flake of scale in the gas line or tank, or a bit of spiral steel remaining inside the pipe after it was threaded and laid years ago, might have rushed along in the torrent of pressurized gas and struck a spark just before it whooshed out the open valve.
Ervin Berton Fox was born in Ashland Township, Clarion County, on August 3, 1898, a son of Charles Alexander and Etta Louella Boyer Fox. He spent his boyhood in that county. For a number of years he did drilling in the West. He returned to Pennsylvania and made his home in Oil City for seven years before moving to his Shamburg residence in 1945. He had been employed on the Foggan lease for the past eight years. In addition to his wife, the former Lulu Lucille Latshaw, to whom Mr. Fox was married on January 23, 1943, he leaves six children at home, the oldest of whom is 17. They are: Neal, Donald, Ardell Mae, Maxine Ann, Judy Louise and Linda Joann. There are also three children by a former marriage, Mrs. Charles Moon of Oil City, Mrs. Braden McKinley of Franklin and Patricia Ann Fox of Nickleville. The following brothers and sisters also survive: H.M. Fox, Caney, KS; Homer Fox, Independence, KS; Charles Fox, Bartlesville, OK; C.W. Fox, Stoneboro; Nelson Fox, Franklin; Mrs. A.C. Orr, Lance Creek, WY and Mrs. O.W. Thomas, McGrann. The body is at the Arnold Funeral Home, where the funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Rev. S.R. Allrich of the Church of Christ will officiate. Burial will be in Brandon Cemetery in Salina.
NOTE: His marker states his name as Ervin Burt while his obituary frequently refers to him as Ervin Berton or Bert. This researcher has decided to use the name as it appears on his marker.
Bert Fox Dies After He Opens Valve on High Pressure Line
Th scales which daily weigh the routine risks taken by oil production workers settled on death for one man in the Titusville region Saturday, February 14, 1953. Balancing the identical task for another man five minutes before the fatal judgement, the scales had favored life.
ERVIN BERTON "BERT" FOX, 55, of Pleasantville, Route 2, was killed almost instantly by an explosion of natural gas along a high pressure line on the lease of the Robert Foggan Estate, Oilcreek Township, Venango County, a property on which he was foreman. The cause of the blast is not known. He had opened a valve on the gas line's drip tank and was standing astraddle the tank - which was a 10-foot length of six-inch pipe raised a few inches off the ground - bending over, ready to shut off the hissing gas. Witnessing the accident at 11:07 a.m., deep in the woods along the upper reaches of Cherry Run, was Claire D. Caldwell, 52, of Plumer. Only a few minutes before the blast, Mr. Caldwell had opened the same valve, and in exactly the same way. Mr. Caldwell, now 100 feet west of the drip tank and facing it, was bending over to pick up something when the hiss became an ear-splitting blast. Looking up, he saw Mr. Fox's body and the drip tank about eight feet in the air. The tank fell back nearly on the spot from which it had shot up, hurling Mr. Fox with it. Mr. Caldwell ran to his friend's side. Mr. Fox looked at him, said "Oh, Claire," and dropped into what Mr. Caldwell thought was unconsciousness. "I'm going for help," said Mr. Caldwell, but he doesn't think the mortally injured man heard him. Running through the woods nearly 1,000 feet up a slope toward the power plant, Mr. Caldwell shut down the machinery, jumped into his pickup truck and drove about a mile to the nearest house which he knew had a telephone and which someone was apt to be home. This was at Bert L. Mangel's home, across the Pleasantville-Plumer road from the East Shamburg Church. A Titusville ambulance responded to the call, reaching the power plant about 11:45. Guided down the gas line to the scene of the woodland tragedy, Raymond Arnold made certain Mr. Fox was dead. Leaving the body there pending a call to the coroner, Mr. Arnold drove to the White City road, turned south, and at a neat white house on a lane a short distance below the old school, broke the news to Mrs. Fox. The widow asked to be taken to the scene, which from her home was about a half mile away, eastwardly through the woods. Dr. Maurice Dinberg, of Oil City, Venango County Coroner, after being told details, said the body could be moved, since he wouldn't be able to come out right away. Following a visit to the Arnold Funeral Home in Titusville Saturday afternoon, he issued a certificate of accidental death. The cause of the explosion can only be surmised. Most of the thawing fires has smoldered out; Mr. Caldwell is firm on the point that those nearest the tank were not burning. The closest was about 20 feet away. Mr. Fox smoked tobacco - a pipe and cigarettes - but Mr. Caldwell said yesterday that his friend was too careful a workman to be smoking while performing tasks around an open gas valve. Mr. Caldwell does not recall whether Mr. Fox had a pipe in his mouth at the time. The possibility exists that he did, and that he thought it was out, but that a glowing ash or two remained and fell out as he bent over the valve. Or a large flake of scale in the gas line or tank, or a bit of spiral steel remaining inside the pipe after it was threaded and laid years ago, might have rushed along in the torrent of pressurized gas and struck a spark just before it whooshed out the open valve.
Ervin Berton Fox was born in Ashland Township, Clarion County, on August 3, 1898, a son of Charles Alexander and Etta Louella Boyer Fox. He spent his boyhood in that county. For a number of years he did drilling in the West. He returned to Pennsylvania and made his home in Oil City for seven years before moving to his Shamburg residence in 1945. He had been employed on the Foggan lease for the past eight years. In addition to his wife, the former Lulu Lucille Latshaw, to whom Mr. Fox was married on January 23, 1943, he leaves six children at home, the oldest of whom is 17. They are: Neal, Donald, Ardell Mae, Maxine Ann, Judy Louise and Linda Joann. There are also three children by a former marriage, Mrs. Charles Moon of Oil City, Mrs. Braden McKinley of Franklin and Patricia Ann Fox of Nickleville. The following brothers and sisters also survive: H.M. Fox, Caney, KS; Homer Fox, Independence, KS; Charles Fox, Bartlesville, OK; C.W. Fox, Stoneboro; Nelson Fox, Franklin; Mrs. A.C. Orr, Lance Creek, WY and Mrs. O.W. Thomas, McGrann. The body is at the Arnold Funeral Home, where the funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Rev. S.R. Allrich of the Church of Christ will officiate. Burial will be in Brandon Cemetery in Salina.
NOTE: His marker states his name as Ervin Burt while his obituary frequently refers to him as Ervin Berton or Bert. This researcher has decided to use the name as it appears on his marker.
PLEASANTVILLE GAS BLAST KILLS LEASE FOREMAN
Bert Fox Dies After He Opens Valve on High Pressure Line
Th scales which daily weigh the routine risks taken by oil production workers settled on death for one man in the Titusville region Saturday, February 14, 1953. Balancing the identical task for another man five minutes before the fatal judgement, the scales had favored life.
ERVIN BERTON "BERT" FOX, 55, of Pleasantville, Route 2, was killed almost instantly by an explosion of natural gas along a high pressure line on the lease of the Robert Foggan Estate, Oilcreek Township, Venango County, a property on which he was foreman. The cause of the blast is not known. He had opened a valve on the gas line's drip tank and was standing astraddle the tank - which was a 10-foot length of six-inch pipe raised a few inches off the ground - bending over, ready to shut off the hissing gas. Witnessing the accident at 11:07 a.m., deep in the woods along the upper reaches of Cherry Run, was Claire D. Caldwell, 52, of Plumer. Only a few minutes before the blast, Mr. Caldwell had opened the same valve, and in exactly the same way. Mr. Caldwell, now 100 feet west of the drip tank and facing it, was bending over to pick up something when the hiss became an ear-splitting blast. Looking up, he saw Mr. Fox's body and the drip tank about eight feet in the air. The tank fell back nearly on the spot from which it had shot up, hurling Mr. Fox with it. Mr. Caldwell ran to his friend's side. Mr. Fox looked at him, said "Oh, Claire," and dropped into what Mr. Caldwell thought was unconsciousness. "I'm going for help," said Mr. Caldwell, but he doesn't think the mortally injured man heard him. Running through the woods nearly 1,000 feet up a slope toward the power plant, Mr. Caldwell shut down the machinery, jumped into his pickup truck and drove about a mile to the nearest house which he knew had a telephone and which someone was apt to be home. This was at Bert L. Mangel's home, across the Pleasantville-Plumer road from the East Shamburg Church. A Titusville ambulance responded to the call, reaching the power plant about 11:45. Guided down the gas line to the scene of the woodland tragedy, Raymond Arnold made certain Mr. Fox was dead. Leaving the body there pending a call to the coroner, Mr. Arnold drove to the White City road, turned south, and at a neat white house on a lane a short distance below the old school, broke the news to Mrs. Fox. The widow asked to be taken to the scene, which from her home was about a half mile away, eastwardly through the woods. Dr. Maurice Dinberg, of Oil City, Venango County Coroner, after being told details, said the body could be moved, since he wouldn't be able to come out right away. Following a visit to the Arnold Funeral Home in Titusville Saturday afternoon, he issued a certificate of accidental death. The cause of the explosion can only be surmised. Most of the thawing fires has smoldered out; Mr. Caldwell is firm on the point that those nearest the tank were not burning. The closest was about 20 feet away. Mr. Fox smoked tobacco - a pipe and cigarettes - but Mr. Caldwell said yesterday that his friend was too careful a workman to be smoking while performing tasks around an open gas valve. Mr. Caldwell does not recall whether Mr. Fox had a pipe in his mouth at the time. The possibility exists that he did, and that he thought it was out, but that a glowing ash or two remained and fell out as he bent over the valve. Or a large flake of scale in the gas line or tank, or a bit of spiral steel remaining inside the pipe after it was threaded and laid years ago, might have rushed along in the torrent of pressurized gas and struck a spark just before it whooshed out the open valve.
Ervin Berton Fox was born in Ashland Township, Clarion County, on August 3, 1898, a son of Charles Alexander and Etta Louella Boyer Fox. He spent his boyhood in that county. For a number of years he did drilling in the West. He returned to Pennsylvania and made his home in Oil City for seven years before moving to his Shamburg residence in 1945. He had been employed on the Foggan lease for the past eight years. In addition to his wife, the former Lulu Lucille Latshaw, to whom Mr. Fox was married on January 23, 1943, he leaves six children at home, the oldest of whom is 17. They are: Neal, Donald, Ardell Mae, Maxine Ann, Judy Louise and Linda Joann. There are also three children by a former marriage, Mrs. Charles Moon of Oil City, Mrs. Braden McKinley of Franklin and Patricia Ann Fox of Nickleville. The following brothers and sisters also survive: H.M. Fox, Caney, KS; Homer Fox, Independence, KS; Charles Fox, Bartlesville, OK; C.W. Fox, Stoneboro; Nelson Fox, Franklin; Mrs. A.C. Orr, Lance Creek, WY and Mrs. O.W. Thomas, McGrann. The body is at the Arnold Funeral Home, where the funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Rev. S.R. Allrich of the Church of Christ will officiate. Burial will be in Brandon Cemetery in Salina.
NOTE: His marker states his name as Ervin Burt while his obituary frequently refers to him as Ervin Berton or Bert. This researcher has decided to use the name as it appears on his marker.
Bert Fox Dies After He Opens Valve on High Pressure Line
Th scales which daily weigh the routine risks taken by oil production workers settled on death for one man in the Titusville region Saturday, February 14, 1953. Balancing the identical task for another man five minutes before the fatal judgement, the scales had favored life.
ERVIN BERTON "BERT" FOX, 55, of Pleasantville, Route 2, was killed almost instantly by an explosion of natural gas along a high pressure line on the lease of the Robert Foggan Estate, Oilcreek Township, Venango County, a property on which he was foreman. The cause of the blast is not known. He had opened a valve on the gas line's drip tank and was standing astraddle the tank - which was a 10-foot length of six-inch pipe raised a few inches off the ground - bending over, ready to shut off the hissing gas. Witnessing the accident at 11:07 a.m., deep in the woods along the upper reaches of Cherry Run, was Claire D. Caldwell, 52, of Plumer. Only a few minutes before the blast, Mr. Caldwell had opened the same valve, and in exactly the same way. Mr. Caldwell, now 100 feet west of the drip tank and facing it, was bending over to pick up something when the hiss became an ear-splitting blast. Looking up, he saw Mr. Fox's body and the drip tank about eight feet in the air. The tank fell back nearly on the spot from which it had shot up, hurling Mr. Fox with it. Mr. Caldwell ran to his friend's side. Mr. Fox looked at him, said "Oh, Claire," and dropped into what Mr. Caldwell thought was unconsciousness. "I'm going for help," said Mr. Caldwell, but he doesn't think the mortally injured man heard him. Running through the woods nearly 1,000 feet up a slope toward the power plant, Mr. Caldwell shut down the machinery, jumped into his pickup truck and drove about a mile to the nearest house which he knew had a telephone and which someone was apt to be home. This was at Bert L. Mangel's home, across the Pleasantville-Plumer road from the East Shamburg Church. A Titusville ambulance responded to the call, reaching the power plant about 11:45. Guided down the gas line to the scene of the woodland tragedy, Raymond Arnold made certain Mr. Fox was dead. Leaving the body there pending a call to the coroner, Mr. Arnold drove to the White City road, turned south, and at a neat white house on a lane a short distance below the old school, broke the news to Mrs. Fox. The widow asked to be taken to the scene, which from her home was about a half mile away, eastwardly through the woods. Dr. Maurice Dinberg, of Oil City, Venango County Coroner, after being told details, said the body could be moved, since he wouldn't be able to come out right away. Following a visit to the Arnold Funeral Home in Titusville Saturday afternoon, he issued a certificate of accidental death. The cause of the explosion can only be surmised. Most of the thawing fires has smoldered out; Mr. Caldwell is firm on the point that those nearest the tank were not burning. The closest was about 20 feet away. Mr. Fox smoked tobacco - a pipe and cigarettes - but Mr. Caldwell said yesterday that his friend was too careful a workman to be smoking while performing tasks around an open gas valve. Mr. Caldwell does not recall whether Mr. Fox had a pipe in his mouth at the time. The possibility exists that he did, and that he thought it was out, but that a glowing ash or two remained and fell out as he bent over the valve. Or a large flake of scale in the gas line or tank, or a bit of spiral steel remaining inside the pipe after it was threaded and laid years ago, might have rushed along in the torrent of pressurized gas and struck a spark just before it whooshed out the open valve.
Ervin Berton Fox was born in Ashland Township, Clarion County, on August 3, 1898, a son of Charles Alexander and Etta Louella Boyer Fox. He spent his boyhood in that county. For a number of years he did drilling in the West. He returned to Pennsylvania and made his home in Oil City for seven years before moving to his Shamburg residence in 1945. He had been employed on the Foggan lease for the past eight years. In addition to his wife, the former Lulu Lucille Latshaw, to whom Mr. Fox was married on January 23, 1943, he leaves six children at home, the oldest of whom is 17. They are: Neal, Donald, Ardell Mae, Maxine Ann, Judy Louise and Linda Joann. There are also three children by a former marriage, Mrs. Charles Moon of Oil City, Mrs. Braden McKinley of Franklin and Patricia Ann Fox of Nickleville. The following brothers and sisters also survive: H.M. Fox, Caney, KS; Homer Fox, Independence, KS; Charles Fox, Bartlesville, OK; C.W. Fox, Stoneboro; Nelson Fox, Franklin; Mrs. A.C. Orr, Lance Creek, WY and Mrs. O.W. Thomas, McGrann. The body is at the Arnold Funeral Home, where the funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Rev. S.R. Allrich of the Church of Christ will officiate. Burial will be in Brandon Cemetery in Salina.
NOTE: His marker states his name as Ervin Burt while his obituary frequently refers to him as Ervin Berton or Bert. This researcher has decided to use the name as it appears on his marker.
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