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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL V August Zk. 1952 A spectacular fire, apparently kindled7 by sparks from a welding outfit, swept through a warehouse and shop at the rear of the Oppfedyk dairy on North 'Main street shortly beiore d Saturday. The flames touched off an oxygen.tent, which exploded with a blast felt as far awajr as North7Las Vegas/'?; Firemen -ftere just drawing up to the dairy at 1000. NorJ|i Main street as the tank bfewvup, but no injuries to -firemen or any bf, the crowd olspectators were re- j portecD‘amf The frame structure in which the blaze started was left a to­tal loss,'firemen said. ?;* Two smaller subsequent ' ex­plosions added to the hazard of I ’the flames and apparently were caused by an ignition of gas from an ice cream cabinet and a burn-; ing, oil drum. Contents of the5; shop, equip­ment and suppltes • including quantities of cpidboard ice cream cartons/ wewfiiSste'a as a total loss. Estim'a&d cost was described as “ul^a/d^ctf/S20 ,- 000,” by Managei/Jdhh^^Afirn, of the Clark County .Dairymen association which 'Operates the i old Oppedyk dairy . The loss is said to be covered by insurance. * r • Billowing columns of dark oil smoke, fed by tires and machin-i ery in the warehouse, attracted hundreds of persons from their homes and in passing autos. Po­lice finally managed to block off the stretch'of Main;/street from Bonanza road north to the inter­section with Fifth street at North |Las Vegas to permit-firemen to lay hoses. Mmmm Captain Doug Williams who dT- 1 rected fire „ fighting .operations under Chief Harold Case, said I all three stations- and many vol­unteers answered the alarm at i 5.56 PM. He said 3,000 feet of hose were laid in three lines. Water pressure was described at “below, normal, but not det­rimental.” The oxygen , tank,: ’connected with a welding outfit* which had been used earlier in the after­noon by Aherny blew-up after flames were well under way. Firemen were7 just laying their lihes/; When;; jnScLtpnk * exploded with a force sufficient to.blow a' portion.of the tank.,several hun­dred yards down the-hill in the direction of the, sMfefhighWay barns. Fortunately' no! one was near, enougji. to ' be injured, though bystanders- reported al-- most being knocked :down by the j blast. Two subsequent explosions oc­curred when an ice cream cab­inet exploded at orie side, of the warehouse an^pn,. oil drum in a far cornerviraiySip. ^ A numb®p^%partments in: a frame buildi»g- adjoining • the iwafbhous^K&jir endangered f||j |the fire anw^fagt ’but were, /re­ported undamaged.- A portion pf the buildingtfhousing turnliving .quarters was destroyed bUt was [used only as a workshop, fire­men said. A delivery truck parked at the rear -of the lot a few yards -from the shed was ''"Scorched by,tnfe' heat but was thought not-to hq,ve been serjgusly/damaged!.........