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From the Archives, 1961: 80-foot high flash fire engulfs Geelong refinery

ByStaff Writers

November 23, 2020 — 10.00am

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First completed in The Age November 25, 1961

TWO DEAD IN 80-FT FLASH OF FIRE AT REFINERY

Crane Buckles in Intense Heat

Two workmen died and two others were critically injured by a furnace explosion and fire at the Shell Oil Company's refinery of North Geelong late yesterday.

The fire followed a crude oil flashback which roared 80 feet high, buckling a mobile crane.

Fifty firemen waged a 15-minute fight to prevent the fire from spreading throughout the £30 million plant.

Those killed were Patrick Surgue, 36, of Drysdale Avenue, Geelong, and Ernest Smith, of Lethbridge.

The condition of Arthur Poole, 50, of McDonald Street, East Geelong and Jack Hume, 36, of Wendover Street, Norland, both of whom were badly burned, was critical last night.

Mr Hume is in Geelong Hospital, and Mr Poole was transferred by ambulance to Royal Melbourne Hospital, after early treatment at Geelong Hospital.