Hutchinson’s Explosive History
- 3rd Eye Blue
- Apr 6
- 3 min read
Hello, my Snapshot Squad!
I'm here, coming to you from the depths of Influenza. It's been a rough past few days full of body pain, coughing, sore... everything, feeling like my throat and lungs were full of razorblades, and I even lost my voice for two days (although some people, and perhaps my furbabies, were certainly pleased by this). I am recovering now, am still sounding croaky, but nothing is currently slicing up my insides so I'll take the win.
In Hutchinson (Kansas), there was an explosion a few weeks ago, February 22nd, that destroyed an auto part store called Steffen's Auto Parts. Nobody was injured, but as you'll note, significant damage was done. A large portion of the surrounding area was evacuated, but thankfully, there were no further incidents.
Steffen's opened in 1968, and in 1997 was purchased by a then-employee who owns it today.
Now, if any of you readers are from KS, you may remember a similar sounding incident in January of 2001, when explosions rocked Hutchinson and killed two people, destroyed two businesses, and left the city with “geyser-like spouts of water and gas” (yeah, that’s quite an accurate depiction).
I lived in Hutch at the time and I remember the vent wells that popped up all over the city; they looked like some kind of flaming torches from medieval Roman times. The gas pockets underground were odorless, therefore, nobody saw it coming. Those poor department stores that exploded had a vent that burned for what seemed like ages, was quite likely several months, although I can't tell you for certain exactly how long. Everyone was amazed that "only" two people died - that's two fucking people too many - but there could have been many, many more.
John and Mary Hahn, may they rest peacefully.
I lived in a basement apartment at the time, literally across the street from an "Eternal Torch", as my mom and I (quite creatively, thank you) dubbed them. I felt that every minute in that apartment, underground, surrounded by odorless, suprise-exploding gas, was going to be my last.
Turned out there was a gas leak from Yaggy field, which I'm not going to pretend that I know much at all about -
"...geyser-like fountains of natural gas and brine began bubbling up 2 to 3 miles east of the downtown fires. The geysers, some reaching 30 feet high, came from abandoned brine wells that had been drilled as long ago as the 1880s for salt production.
The next day, natural gas coming up a long-forgotten brine well exploded under a mobile home, killing two people. The city ordered hundreds of residences and businesses evacuated. Many people would not be able to return to their homes and businesses until the end of March..."
You can read more here.
As you can tell, I survived. After awhile the torches started to seem kinda cool, once it was determined that we were relatively safe. Very Roman Colosseum-y.
I digress. But you can see the concerns that a 2025 explosion could cause the residents of Hutchinson.
Like I was present for the 2001 fires, I was also in Hutch for the 2025 explosion, although I did not witness it. Every time I go to Hutchinson since, I have hoped for a photo op, but alas, it has been blocked off. Until yesterday, Saturday, April 5th.
Oh, how I wish I'd been into photography in 2001.
Anyway, I snapped a few shots from the outside of the barricades. I'm not really afraid to cross a few lines for my art, but I do try to have some respect on occasion. Regardless of how badly I want to get straight in the middle.
I took this photo of the scene a couple weeks ago on March 29th, from the street, from a nearby intersection, from my car window. It was still roadblocked at the time. Sometimes you know, a girl be lazy.
Last weekend, tightly embraced by sickness, I took the following.
It's a single business, a small area, but I plan to get more.
I also snapped this one of the Landmark...
... in all of it's ... glory?
The history of the Landmark is long and that's another story for another time - when I have more photos of it's magnificence (squalor?) to share.
This semester is slowly (oh, so painfully slowly) coming to an end, and next semester shouldn't (please, please, please) be so painful, and grant me more glorious free time to shoot and share.
Until then, my Flashy Friends, get out, take some shots (and photos, while you're at it), be safe always, and have a great time!
One more thing… If you're interested, here are a few more links for the Hutchinson explosions:
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