Excerpt:
The
boat’s six boilers churned with monstrous pent-up energy, waiting to
drive the steam power forward and commanding the craft up river. The
strikers, men in charge of the engines, monitored their pressure gauges and all appeared within range as the firemen fed the hungry furnaces.
As the
passengers neared the waiting gangplank, a deafening blast assaulted
their senses. A tremendous and unexpected boiler explosion sent a third of
the vessel sailing into the air. Bodies from the ship went flying in
all directions, some into the river, some raining on land along with
splintered shards of jagged wood and twisted bits of metal.
Great plumes of
hissing steam stretched into the sky, spraying all in its path for a
considerable radius. Anyone who inhaled the steam died instantly, while
others succumbed to excruciating burns caused by the heated water and
sprays of steam. Screams of pain and shouts for help erupted in the aftermath as the debris from the explosion settled all around.
Those on
the bank were shocked and stunned, momentarily frozen in time as the
catastrophic event unfolded before them. Gradually their senses were
drawn from the shock, and they raced toward the carnage, screaming and
praying.
The furnaces of hot coals were exposed and splayed throughout the deck, making the possibility of fire a serious threat. Hissing vents of
scalding steam continued to spew from the exposed boilers. The trapped
crewmen screamed for help but their fates were sealed and their cooked
flesh peeled from their bones without effort.
Within minutes, chains of
people were assisting the wounded from the boat. A fire erupted near
the engine house, small at first, but it rapidly accelerated. The
enormity of the wreckage was astounding, made
even more surreal by the encroaching fire.Piteous cries could be heard
from beneath the ruins. Many of the crew tried to douse the fire with buckets of
water, but it soon became pointless and futile, and they abandoned the
attempt. They took up axes and started to chop through the wreckage
trying to free those they could. Within a few more minutes, the fire
drove the men back and they were forced to desert further pains to save
anyone left alive. The horrifying screams of
those trapped without rescue grew to a sickening crescendo as the fire
neared. They begged for mercy as the flames began to lap at their
extremities and then their voices fell silent, their torturous end
completed.
Vickie is a native of Utah, but growing up, lived in the states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Nebraska. When she's not writing, she's composing music, or shopping with her sister. She loves animals of all kinds and camping with her family. Her favorite pastime is watching old movies on TCM, and unashamedly has a crush on Cary Grant.
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