The Garage Fire

The destroyed garage and tractors after the 13 October fire. At left, the D4 works at digging out the garage during the predawn days of early spring 1964, shortly before the fire (photo from 1964 supply clerk Ron Lampert). The below photos were shared by 1964 winterover radioman Larry Cox. Forgive the size...it's my fault. These were old scans he sent me, he had them out as we discussed them in a phone call in February 2016...but before he could scan them larger, his dog ate them. ;)
The remains of the D8 are at upper right...the D4 wreckage is underneath the fallen framework of the garage door.	Focusing in on the D8. In the background, some of the supplies and the Weasel in the distance.
A slightly different angle shows the Nodwell, a firefighting truck loaded with 5,000 pounds of baking soda. It had been parked right next to the garage...after the fire alarm the crew started it up, moved it into position, and turned the handle...which broke off.	A side view of the remains of the D8. The fire alarm had sounded during breakfast. Some folks grabbed 45 pound extinguishers and carried them out to the garage (with much difficulty), but these were totally ineffective.
A side view of the remains of the D8. The fire alarm had sounded during breakfast. Some folks grabbed 45 pound extinguishers and carried them out to the garage (with much difficulty), but these were totally ineffective.	A slightly different angle shows the Nodwell, a firefighting truck loaded with 5,000 pounds of baking soda. It had been parked right next to the garage...after the fire alarm the crew started it up, moved it into position, and turned the handle...which broke off.
From conversations with Scott Kane (1964 cosray) and other research, I'm 99% sure that the destroyed D8 was the bow tanker that showed up on the 1960-61 Byrd-Pole traverse--the blade and ancillary equipment that showed up early in the summer was installed, and the "new" D8 (which had become buried as it was essentially useless without a blade) was the one in the garage being prepped for the summer when the fire happened. The photo at the top of the page is a US Navy photo taken on 24 November; it is from the Bulletin of the US Antarctic Projects Officer volume 6 number 7, summer 1965.