HERMISTON, Ore. (AP) — The Umatilla Chemical Depot is honoring six workers Monday who died in a 1944 storage explosion on the 67th anniversary of the event.
The Tri-City Herald says the 1944 accident was the only fatal accident involving the handling of munitions during the depot’s 70-year history. The depot stored conventional ammunition through several wars, including World War II. It stored chemical weapons starting in the early 1960s.
Monday’s ceremony begins at Building 54 and ends at the site of the explosion. An Army investigation was unable to determine the cause of the accident.
