HALIFAX— Allan "Dinger" Bell has no idea how long he was in the flames that engulfed the HMCS Kootenay engine room after the destroyer was rocked by an explosion that led to the worst peacetime accident in the history of the Royal Canadian Navy. Bell was one of 10 men on duty in the engine room 50 years ago when a bearing in the starboard gear box failed, causing the explosion on the morning of Oct. 23, 1969. "The heat from the fire was so intense it actually melted an aluminum ladder in the engine room." "You couldn't see, and it was hot," said Womack, who helped pour foam into the engine room from a deck above it. Its propellers were removed and the ship was towed to Halifax, where it arrived on Nov. 27, 1969.

Source: thestar October 23, 2019 17:25 UTC