Jan. 3, 1974, is an infamous day in Vancouver history when a massive explosion rocked Coal Harbour.
A number of gas barges lived in the harbour at the time, and two Vancouverites remember seeing the explosion light up the sky.
“Just a huge burst of flame (shot) up into the air,” said John Zeiler, who was working on the 18th floor of the Marine Building on Burrard Street.
The shooting flames were emanating from the Home Oil Gas barge.
“There were oil drums high up in the air, maybe 60 feet in the air, then the sound hit a few seconds after, and (I) realized it was an explosion,” Zeiler said.
Shelley Kean, who was 21 years old at the time, was also working downtown at the time of the blast, for BC Tel.
“There was just this huge noise — a big bang,” she told Global News.
“(I) was thinking earthquake and then looking outside and seeing a really dark billow of dark smoke.”
In the aftermath, three people were confirmed to have died in the incident — the barge manager, a boat owner and their passenger.
Months after the incident, an inquest found that unsafe work practices and gasoline vapour caused the disaster.
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