Tragedy Strikes Oak Harbor Family
A kerosene explosion in the kitchen of the Gast home claimed the lives of four children.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Four children were burned to death when the residence of Harry Gast, situated between Oak Harbor and San de Fuca, was destroyed by fire on May 18. The children ranged in age from 6 to 14 years. Gast was lighting a fire in the kitchen stove, using kerosene to hasten the fire, when there was a terrific explosion. Mrs. Gast, who was in the garden, rushed into the kitchen and found her husband enveloped in flames. She pushed him outdoors and rolled him in the grass and extinguished the flames, but she forgot the children, and when she had succeeded in rescuing her husband she found the house in flames, and it was impossible to rescue the children. Gast suffered serious burns and was taken to a hospital in Everett.
“When she had succeeded in rescuing her husband she found the house in flames, and it was impossible to rescue the children.”
The use of kerosene to start wood stoves was a common practice that led to countless household tragedies in the Pacific Northwest. The story highlights the devastating consequences of simple domestic tasks before modern safety standards were in place.
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