Fire at the National Personnel Records Center

     Forty-six years ago today, a devastating tragedy occurred at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Shortly after midnight, on July 12, 1973, a fire was reported at the NPRC's military personnel records building at 9700 Page Boulevard in St. Louis, MO. Firefighters arrived on the scene only 4 minutes and 20 seconds after the first alarm sounded and entered the building. While they were able to reach the burning sixth floor, the heat and the smoke forced the firefighters to withdraw at 3:15am. In order to combat and contain the flames, firefighters were forced to pour great quantities of water onto the exterior of the building and inside through broken windows. The fire burned out of control for 22 hours; it took two days before firefighters were able to re-enter the building. The blaze was so intense that local Overland residents had to remain indoors, due to the heavy acrid smoke. It was not until July 16, nearly four and a half days after the first reports, that the local fire department called the fire officially out. During the long ordeal, firefighters faced severe problems due to insufficient water pressure. Exacerbating the situation, one of the department's pumper trucks broke down after 40 hours of continuous operation. Numerous times, the fire threatened to spread down to the other floors; but firefighters were successful in halting its advance. In all, it took the participation of 42 fire districts to combat the disastrous blaze. Due to the extensive damages, investigators were never able to determine the source of the fire. Read more about this event on the NARA website: 1973 Fire, National Personnel Records Center - NARA

These are newspaper clippings from the day and the days following

1973 Chillicothe Constitution Tribune

1973 Kansas City Tribune

1973 Jefferson City Post Tribune

     This event has caused many veterans to have trouble getting benefits for their service as well as proper recognition. The NARA has been working since then to put as many files back together as they can, with the help of family also doing genealogy research. I myself have been working on putting back together my 2nd great Uncle's military file that was destroyed. Many millions of records have been restored, but there is still a long way to go.

In honor of this anniversary, my husband surprised me with an interview with his father, Paul Rickards, who was employed at the records center during the time of the fire. He remembers that day very well, so he took the time to tell his son about that day and the days following. I have put together a video of his interview along with photos from the day for him for Father's day and to share with all of you.

So here it is, a first hand account of that dreadful day that changed history forever.