Biggest Industrial Fire in History @ GM

[Mark Gregory]

Biggest Industrial Fire in History

I was there

Media

 

1953 Hydramatic Fire
Livonia, Michigan

I was there...

Tell us your story >

The biggest industrial fire in history took place in a General Motors plant on August 12, 1953 - a fifty million dollar loss. I was working there at that time. This was the Hydramatic plant on Plymouth Road, in Livonia, Michigan. Ternstedt Division, for whom I was working, was using the eastern portion of the building for two government contracts - one contract was for a state-of-the-art guidance system, for the U.S. Air Force; and the other contract was for a range finder system to be used on Army tanks. 

One afternoon, numerous alarm signals sounded. The story was that an oily rag had been accidentally ignited by a welder's torch and was caught on a parts conveyor line, thus carrying the flame down the line and igniting other materials as it traveled. Six people died in the fire: three members of the Ternstedt in-plant fire brigade were trapped and killed and a member of the Livonia Fire Department suffered a fatal heart attack. Several days later, two construction workers were electrocuted while clearing debris. The plant building was completely destroyed. 

This August 12th fire left the corporation and the three divisions that used this transmission plant scrambling for other sources of automatic transmissions to complete that year's model year production. As a result, Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs, during the downtime, were assembled with Buick's Dynaflow transmission, while Pontiacs used Chevrolet's Powerglide, both two-speed torque-converter units. Non-GM makes, that bought Hydramatics from the corporation, ended up looking for other sources of automatic transmissions during the downtime. 

About nine weeks after the Livonia fire, GM opened up a new source for Hydramatic production at Willow Run, Michigan. GM obtained the giant World War II bomber plant at Willow Run from Kaiser-Frazer and completely revamped it for Hydra-Matic production. This is not the Willow Run Auto Assembly Plant, which was built right outside the Willow Run Transmission Plant. 

By the time the 1954 models debuted in late 1953, Hydramatic production had returned to normal levels and all '54 model Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs with automatic transmissions were once again equipped with Hydramatics.

 

Edited March 1, 2020 by Mark Gregory (see edit history)

[Mark Gregory]

That is about 1/2 Billion dollars today . The amazing part is that they had a new plant up and working in 9 weeks ? ?  The specialized tooling and machinery and no computers to do it .

[8E45E]

There was an interesting article in Hemmings Classic Car on that fire, and how GM's divisions that used the Hydramatic, Lincoln, and the Independents had to cope: https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hcc/2013/06/Component-Substitutions-and-Changing-Times/3725911.html

 

Craig

[wayne sheldon]

Very interesting details and history. And the fact that YOU were THERE! The fire is a well known piece of automotive history that has driven many people nuts when trying to restore or maintain all those GM models that ended up with alternate transmissions.

 

Thank you for sharing that.

[Frank DuVal]

Actually the story on the Ford top loader RAT 3 speeds is GM did not have a three speed with the torque capability needed for large cubic inch engines at that time. So, they bought the Ford pick up truck transmission with big gears and dropped them into the GM intermediate line cars when big cubes were ordered. Most intermediates (A bodies) with big cubes also ordered four speeds and small cubes still got GM sourced trannies. After all, who bought a large engine three speed manual in a large car ( B bodies)? Well, in 1970, Buick still offered the "standard 3 speed" as the no option transmission in LeSabre sized vehicles, including Wildcat and Estate wagons. The Wildctas and Estate wagons only came with 455 10:1 compression engines.  Again, no GM three speed could stand up to that, so Ford RAT 3.3 (or some such) went into those. 

 

I own a 3 speed Estate wagon. Pete Phillips has one of the 3 speed Wildcats.

 

Recently a mechanic friend gave me a 3 speed Ford he removed from a Cutlass, as the owner had a 4 speed installed. The mechanic said it actually drove better in town with the 3.....     Too bad the intermediate bodies used a short mainshaft compared to the B bodies.

[Harley1947]

Fascinating how production was up and running so fast! Today all the paperwork and bureaucracy would have delayed opening for months! But this is my question and maybe someone who is still following this topic could educate me on a related topic.  I am a big fan of 1954 Pontiac Star Chiefs. I have been confused and frustrated that no production records seem publicly available prior to 1955.

 I was told that production information prior to this fire (August 12. 1953) went up in this fire as well. I presume that light years before computers it wasn't uncommon for records to be kept at a single location (there were multiple Pontiac assembly plants so that there wasn't some backup records maintained puzzles me? ). So this leaves me wondering-if all 1954 Pontiacs had Hydramatics assembled in the replacement plant, why weren't there detailed records for 1954 (regarding model break outs--now only gross numbers about engines, transmission installed). Any thoughts on this fairly archaic subject.  

[PONTIAC1953]

On 4/15/2018 at 1:58 PM, Mark Gregory said:

Biggest Industrial Fire in History

I was there

Media

 

1953 Hydramatic Fire
Livonia, Michigan

I was there...

Tell us your story >

The biggest industrial fire in history took place in a General Motors plant on August 12, 1953 - a fifty million dollar loss. I was working there at that time. This was the Hydramatic plant on Plymouth Road, in Livonia, Michigan. Ternstedt Division, for whom I was working, was using the eastern portion of the building for two government contracts - one contract was for a state-of-the-art guidance system, for the U.S. Air Force; and the other contract was for a range finder system to be used on Army tanks. 

One afternoon, numerous alarm signals sounded. The story was that an oily rag had been accidentally ignited by a welder's torch and was caught on a parts conveyor line, thus carrying the flame down the line and igniting other materials as it traveled. Six people died in the fire: three members of the Ternstedt in-plant fire brigade were trapped and killed and a member of the Livonia Fire Department suffered a fatal heart attack. Several days later, two construction workers were electrocuted while clearing debris. The plant building was completely destroyed. 

This August 12th fire left the corporation and the three divisions that used this transmission plant scrambling for other sources of automatic transmissions to complete that year's model year production. As a result, Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs, during the downtime, were assembled with Buick's Dynaflow transmission, while Pontiacs used Chevrolet's Powerglide, both two-speed torque-converter units. Non-GM makes, that bought Hydramatics from the corporation, ended up looking for other sources of automatic transmissions during the downtime. 

About nine weeks after the Livonia fire, GM opened up a new source for Hydramatic production at Willow Run, Michigan. GM obtained the giant World War II bomber plant at Willow Run from Kaiser-Frazer and completely revamped it for Hydra-Matic production. This is not the Willow Run Auto Assembly Plant, which was built right outside the Willow Run Transmission Plant. 

By the time the 1954 models debuted in late 1953, Hydramatic production had returned to normal levels and all '54 model Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs with automatic transmissions were once again equipped with Hydramatics.

 

I had always heard and read that the new plant was up and running in 90 days or 3 months, so you're saying it was just 9 weeks ?

[PONTIAC1953]

[PONTIAC1953]

11 minutes ago, Harley1947 said:

Fascinating how production was up and running so fast! Today all the paperwork and bureaucracy would have delayed opening for months! But this is my question and maybe someone who is still following this topic could educate me on a related topic.  I am a big fan of 1954 Pontiac Star Chiefs. I have been confused and frustrated that no production records seem publicly available prior to 1955.

 I was told that production information prior to this fire (August 12. 1953) went up in this fire as well. I presume that light years before computers it wasn't uncommon for records to be kept at a single location (there were multiple Pontiac assembly plants so that there wasn't some backup records maintained puzzles me? ). So this leaves me wondering-if all 1954 Pontiacs had Hydramatics assembled in the replacement plant, why weren't there detailed records for 1954 (regarding model break outs--now only gross numbers about engines, transmission installed). Any thoughts on this fairly archaic subject.  

Pontiac had a storage building where they had stored their records for production up to 1960, when this storage building was a total loss due to a fire, that's when Pontiac lost the records stored there. the new hydra-matic plant was up and running by early November 1953, 1954 Pontiac production started after the 1953 production ended on November 20th, 1953.

 

Charles L. Coker

1953 Pontiac Tech Advisor

past poci historian

Pontiac Oakland club international

[PONTIAC1953]

On 4/18/2018 at 6:42 AM, Joe in Canada said:

I had a 1968 GTO with a Ford 3 speed transmission in it a couple of years ago. Munsey was on strike so they adapted the Ford to work and a reworked driveshaft. I dragged it all the way home from Las Cruces New Mexico and was able to get it through customs with no title.

munchie

[58L-Y8]

1 hour ago, Harley1947 said:

" I am a big fan of 1954 Pontiac Star Chiefs."..."(regarding model break outs--now only gross numbers about engines, transmission installed). Any thoughts on this fairly archaic subject."  

A method that would give you a reasonable approximation of how many of each Star Chiefs were built of each body style would be to figure the percentages of each comparable model for 1955 total production then apply those percentages to the total 1954 production number.  It won't be exact but given the pricing is in the same range and customer brand loyalty then the resulting numbers probably would be within five percent correct.  When referring to the totals you calculate, just prefix a ~ symbol to indicate they are approximate numbers. 

[Pfeil]

2 hours ago, pontiac1953 said:

Pontiac had a storage building where they had stored their records for production up to 1960, when this storage building was a total loss due to a fire, that's when Pontiac lost the records stored there. the new hydra-matic plant was up and running by early November 1953, 1954 Pontiac production started after the 1953 production ended on November 20th, 1953.

 

Charles L. Coker

1953 Pontiac Tech Advisor

past poci historian

Pontiac Oakland club international

 

 Thanks for enlightening others on the 1960 fire. I'm surprised some people still hadn't heard of it or had different information.

[Pfeil]

6 hours ago, Harley1947 said:

 So this leaves me wondering-if all 1954 Pontiacs had Hydramatics assembled in the replacement plant, why weren't there detailed records for 1954 (regarding model break outs--now only gross numbers about engines, transmission installed). Any thoughts on this fairly archaic subject.  

 

Production cars built to 1954 specifications began on the first day of Dec.1953 and ended the following Sept. 1954. New models appeared in showrooms Dec. 18, 1953.

In the 54-25 Chieftain Six output totaled 22,670 cars with 19,666 standard shift and 3,004 with HydraMatic

In the 54-27 Chieftain Eight Series 149,986 Pontiac's were made, 39,906 standard shift and 120,080 HydraMatic.

In the 54-28 StarChief Eight 115,088 were made. 40% of all Pontiac production and 571 were standard shift and 114,517 were HydraMatic.

 

Something you should know and Charles Coker will agree to this; 1953 and 1954 Pontiac's were supposed to come with the 287 Strato Streak V-8 engine.

The 1953-54 chassis, steering was designed to accept the V-8 engine. Mainly Buick and with some Oldsmobile help complained to the corporation. Pontiac was held back two years from debuting their new V-8, mainly because Buick was also debuting their new V-8, and Buick didn't want anything to take away the publicity of their new V-8 so Buick/Olds complained to the corporation and Pontiac was held back. This business of Pontiac holding it's engine back because it's General Manager getting killed in a train crash was merely a diversion to the real reason.  

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Pfeil (see edit history)

[padgett]

And then there were the Pontiacs in Canada (Beaumonts) that were really Chevvies so got powerglides. Were a lot of shenanigans that went on then.

 

Part of the reason for the Ford top loaders was that Muncie was selling all the 4-speeds they could build (particularly with all the early "small shaft" failures) and did not want to be bothered with the paltry number of three speeds needed, some bean count figured it was cheaper to buy the fords once torque exceeded the Saginaw three and four speeds. (which were later ('78) built by Muncie). Nice thing was that the Ford was an all syncrho three speed (and was even available in the 69-71 Grand Prixs, why the pattern was on the shift knob and not the console (and the only thing rarer than a console for a manual transmissioned Grand Prix was the special ash tray)). Already mentioned the blue gauge lights.

[mobileparts]

The 1949 - 1956 Caddy Water Pump is all the same -- except for the 

1953 with Automatic Transmission for just that reason.....

    I knew it had something to do with the fire......

[Jim Skelly]

The Briggs plant fire resulted in far more casualties:

 

https://morbidamerica.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/briggs-manufacturing-plant-fire1927/

 

My Dad worked in tool design at Detroit Diesel at the time of the Hydra-Matic fire.  They ended up working 7 days a week to design parts to allow the Dynaflow to be substituted for the Hydra-Matic.

[Pfeil]

Just a FYI;

Of the total 1953 Pontiac production of SIXES,  33,705 were M/T trans, 4,507 were HydraMatic and 702 Powerglide.

                                                                  of Eights,  68,565 were M/T trans, 293,343 were HydraMatic and 17,797 Powerglide.

71.2% of all 53 Pontiac's got HydraMatic, 4.4% Powerglide

 

According to the factory, switching to Powerglide cost Pontiac division an estimated 30,000 sales.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Pfeil (see edit history)

[Laughing Coyote]

On 4/18/2018 at 10:14 AM, Frank DuVal said:

Actually the story on the Ford top loader RAT 3 speeds is GM did not have a three speed with the torque capability needed for large cubic inch engines at that time. So, they bought the Ford pick up truck transmission with big gears and dropped them into the GM intermediate line cars when big cubes were ordered. Most intermediates (A bodies) with big cubes also ordered four speeds and small cubes still got GM sourced trannies. After all, who bought a large engine three speed manual in a large car ( B bodies)? Well, in 1970, Buick still offered the "standard 3 speed" as the no option transmission in LeSabre sized vehicles, including Wildcat and Estate wagons. The Wildctas and Estate wagons only came with 455 10:1 compression engines.  Again, no GM three speed could stand up to that, so Ford RAT 3.3 (or some such) went into those. 

 

I own a 3 speed Estate wagon. Pete Phillips has one of the 3 speed Wildcats.

 

Recently a mechanic friend gave me a 3 speed Ford he removed from a Cutlass, as the owner had a 4 speed installed. The mechanic said it actually drove better in town with the 3.....     Too bad the intermediate bodies used a short mainshaft compared to the B bodies.

When I was in High school many moons ago I bought a 1965 Malibu SS from a guy in Colorado when I was living in Wyoming. Paid $700 for it.  The car was an original 4 speed car, but not sure of the original engine that it came with.  The guy I bought it from installed a 1966 Pontiac 389 engine and a 3 speed Ford top loader. After reading this, it must have been one of those truck trans. I used to race the guys while out cruising and did pretty well.

[Frank DuVal]

5 hours ago, padgett said:

Nice thing was that the Ford was an all syncrho three speed

 

So were all the other GM three speed transmissions from 1966 onward.....  1965 is the last of the non-synchro first on GM vehicles.

 

Awaiting someone with a trivia of some GM 66 or later manual transmission with a non synchro first....😁

[PONTIAC1953]

3 hours ago, Pfeil said:

Just a FYI;

Of the total 1953 Pontiac production of SIXES,  33,705 were M/T trans, 4,507 were HydraMatic and 702 Powerglide.

                                                                  of Eights,  68,565 were M/T trans, 293,343 were HydraMatic and 17,797 Powerglide.

71.2% of all 53 Pontiac's got HydraMatic, 4.4% Powerglide

 

According to the factory, switching to Powerglide cost Pontiac division an estimated 30,000 sales.

and yet 1953 sales totals were among the best for Pontiac in the 1950s.

[PONTIAC1953]

9 hours ago, Pfeil said:

 

Production cars built to 1954 specifications began on the first day of Dec.1953 and ended the following Sept. 1954. New models appeared in showrooms Dec. 18, 1953.

In the 54-25 Chieftain Six output totaled 22,670 cars with 19,666 standard shift and 3,004 with HydraMatic

In the 54-27 Chieftain Eight Series 149,986 Pontiac's were made, 39,906 standard shift and 120,080 HydraMatic.

In the 54-28 StarChief Eight 115,088 were made. 40% of all Pontiac production and 571 were standard shift and 114,517 were HydraMatic.

 

Something you should know and Charles Coker will agree to this; 1953 and 1954 Pontiac's were supposed to come with the 287 Strato Streak V-8 engine.

The 1953-54 chassis, steering was designed to accept the V-8 engine. Mainly Buick and with some Oldsmobile help complained to the corporation. Pontiac was held back two years from debuting their new V-8, mainly because Buick was also debuting their new V-8, and Buick didn't want anything to take away the publicity of their new V-8 so Buick/Olds complained to the corporation and Pontiac was held back. This business of Pontiac holding it's engine back because it's General Manager getting killed in a train crash was merely a diversion to the real reason.  

 

yes, I've always thought that what a shame that Buick and Olds spies caught Pontiac testing some of their 1953 Pontiac production prototypes (23) on the GM Michigan proving grounds with 287 V8 power under the hood. but if my 1953 Pontiac chieftain custom Catalina had a V8, my father would not have let me buy it, lol.

Edited March 2, 2020 by pontiac1953 (see edit history)

[Marykb]

Wow, so my father recently died and I was going through all the letters he wrote to my Mom in 1953 when he was only 20 years old.  On June 26, he told her he had been hired at the Hydra-Matic plant: 

 

Last week, June 26, I was hired at General Motors - Detroit transmission Division.  It is the Hydra-Matic plant for G.M.  I began working yesterday, Monday.  My shift is the second which begins at 4:30 pm till 2:00 am, nine hours.

 

I am an assembly inspector.  The job is not hard except for the hours.  However the department which we work in is air-conditioned, which is really better than being where production is.  The heat over there is really terrific.

 

Then on August 13, he wrote:   

 

We hit a little hard luck here yesterday.  The Hydra-Matic plant of G.M. where I work, caught fire yesterday, exploded and burned away to a multi-million dollar fire.  As yet I do not know what the casualty list amounts to.  Most of the news will be in today’s paper.  However I do know that everybody cleared out fast.   I am not working today and if layoff is serious I’ll try to obtain another job

 

Funny, he never so much as mentioned this to our family, I never knew anything about it.  (I did know that his father worked for Henry Ford, though!)

 

[TAKerry]

Thanks for the information on your father. Interesting perspective of someone there at the time.