![]() ![]() At 11:11 p.m., the IFD contacted the IPD directly to ensure that they were aware of the situation. As a result, in the first notification that any hospital received of the disaster, the dispatcher called a local hospital and requested all three of their ambulances to the arena. Very shortly after this call, another off-duty firefighter at the coliseum called the IFD and requested that ambulances be sent to the scene. This call also alerted the IPD, as the dispatchers for the IFD and the IPD regularly monitored each other's calls. Within a minute of the first explosion, an off-duty firefighter who was in the audience telephoned the headquarters of the Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) and informed them of the situation, immediately identifying the incident as a gas explosion. The location of the explosions had left a crater measuring approximately 50 feet (15 m) across that contained a great deal of rubble and a small fire. During the evacuation, the Holiday on Ice orchestra continued to play and reports of the evacuation make note that there was no significant mass panic, with many of the evacuees experiencing shock. Both before and after this second blast, evacuations of the arena were underway, with the spectators mostly leaving in an orderly fashion. A few minutes after the initial blast, a smaller explosion occurred that produced a fireball that rose 40 feet (12 m) high. Shortly thereafter, a load-bearing wall underneath the stands gave way and caused an additional cave-in of about 500 square feet (46 m 2) of floor. The initial blast lifted approximately 700 square feet (65 m 2) of floor and launched debris and spectators towards the ice rink. The explosion was centered on the southeastern end of the arena, just underneath the box seats of Aisle 13. The explosion occurred at 11:06 p.m., during the show's finale. EST, but it had started about fifteen minutes behind schedule, and around 11 p.m., the finale was about to begin. The show had been scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. It had been raining throughout the night and, because it was Halloween, the Indianapolis Police Department (IPD) had activated more police officers than usual. This was the first performance of the ice show's scheduled eleven-day run in Indianapolis, and the coliseum promoted it as part of its " Shriners Night". On the night of October 31, 1963, 4,327 spectators were present at the arena to see the opening-night performance of Holiday on Ice. ![]() The Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum is a multi-use arena with a seating capacity of about 7,800 located on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. The explosion occurred inside the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum (pictured 2014) ![]() The arena reopened about six weeks after the incident and still stands on the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Several city and state agencies investigated the explosion, and it was one of the first events studied by the Disaster Research Center, a research group organized earlier that year to study large-scale disasters. Victims of the explosion were eventually awarded $4.6 million in settlements. However, at a later date all of the individuals either had their charges dropped or their convictions overturned. The gas tanks were discovered by firefighters during cleanup operations and later testing revealed that they were the cause of the explosion.įollowing the disaster, a grand jury indicted seven people in total, including employees of the gas provider and the company that operated the arena, as well as the state fire marshal and the city fire chief. Firefighters and other emergency responders were at the site within minutes and survivors were transported via ambulance to various hospitals in the area. After the initial blast, while people were evacuating, a second blast caused by the remaining, unexploded tanks caused further destruction. ET, the gas came into contact with an electrical heating element from the concessions area, causing a major explosion that killed many seated above the room and caused significant damage to the stands. While this was happening, liquefied petroleum gas was leaking from a tank that was stored with several others in a supply room underneath a part of the grandstands. On the night of October 31, over 4,000 people were in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum to watch a Holiday on Ice performance. It was one of the worst disasters in the history of both the city and the state. The Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion took place in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on Octo81 people died and about 400 others were injured. 1963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion Date ![]()
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