https://evelazarus.com/fire-at-the-grain-elevators/ Fri, 26 Jun 2026 15:58:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://evelazarus.com/fire-at-the-grain-elevators/#comment-65203 Fri, 26 Jun 2026 15:58:04 +0000 https://evelazarus.com/?p=17318#comment-65203 I have been looking into grain elevators for a humanities course focusing on Construction History. More specifically, I am looking at the Halifax Grain Elevator and its relation to the surrounding residential neighbourhoods through case studies of past explosions and preventative measures that have been set in place. I can across your articles related to the 1975 Burrard Terminal explosion in North Vancouver and you have stated that “Grain dust, it turns out, is about 35 times more explosive than TNT.” I am wondering where this source if from because I find this incredibly interesting and would like to use this statistic in my paper when talking about the nature of a blast wall that was constructed for a multi-unit residential building that is only 25 feet away from the elevators.

]]> https://evelazarus.com/fire-at-the-grain-elevators/#comment-64216 Sun, 28 Sep 2025 18:43:27 +0000 https://evelazarus.com/?p=17318#comment-64216 I remember this happening very well! It was catastrophic and I couldn’t imagine being any where’s near there when it explored. My heart still goes out to all those who went through such a horrifying experience. At the time a very close friend of mine was working across on the Vancouver side very close to the waterfront. He said he heard the first explosion and turned and looked out his office window and saw the huge smoke plum, then after that the second explosion, and the flames were immense! I didn’t realize that it’s been 50 years since!

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