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When I first wrote about the Doraville Triangle Refinery fire that began on April 6, 1972 for the Dunwoody Crier newspaper, I received an email from Todd Drummond of Dunwoody. He shared the story of living on Doral Circle, the street adjacent to the refinery, when the tragic fire took place. The family home was closest house to the fire, but miraculously did not burn. He was five years old at the time.
Joyce Drummond, Mike Drummond age 3 and Todd Drummond age 5 in their back yard following the fire at Triangle Refinery in 1972. The collapsed tanks can be seen behind their home. Photo from Atlanta Constitution April 11, 1972.
“The explosion was deafening,” recalls Drummond. “I remember how immediately bright the fire was in our bedroom. The concussion cracked the window. My parents grabbed me and my brother and ran down the street.”
Drummond’s dad went back to open the pen that held the family bird dogs. The dogs got out and away from the fire but they did not return.
“The fire was so hot that our Big Wheels melted in the back yard and our roof was damaged,” remembers Todd Drummond.
He remembers neighborhood families, the Ogletrees and Sosebees. The Sosebees home was destroyed but they managed to escape. Another family, the Moses, parents and five children, got out of their home safely. One side of their house was singed. He remembers an elderly couple lived on the street and the husband died in the explosion.
After staying with their grandparents for five days, Todd Drummond and the rest of the family went back to their home on Doral Circle.
There was another fire later that year at Christmas. This fire was not as devastating as the first, but the Drummond family spent Christmas at their cousin’s house.
He remembers that his mom was angry and expressed her anger and frustration at a city hall meeting. Joyce Drummond and the other women on Doral Circle helped the families get settlements.
The Drummonds and others on Doral Circle wanted to move but were concerned their property values had diminished due to the fire. They were also concerned that their homes, which were insured against fire previously at a reasonable rate, would be uninsurable or the insurance would skyrocket.
Drummond has shown where he used to live and where the Doraville Refinery fire of 1972 took place to his children when he travels from Dunwoody to Doraville to visit the Buford Highway Farmers Market. The memories are still fresh from the tragic fire.
During the month of April and May of this year, I wrote four articles for the Dunwoody Crier newspaper about the Doraville Refinery fire of 1972. The first two were based on newspaper accounts and memories of those who lived nearby. They can be found here: Doraville Triangle Refinery Fire of 1972 Part 1 and Doraville Triangle Refinery Fire of 1972 Part 2.
The second two articles told the firsthand experiences of Chief J. D. Boozer and three other DeKalb County firefighters