Two Chemical Disasters in my Family

I was working at the Flixborough chemical plant when it exploded in June 1974 killing 28 workers, the worst ever industrial disaster in Britain . When the re-built plant closed in 1982 I moved to the South of England where I eventually became a Consultant in major hazard prevention. When I finally retired in 2002, I started to write the first of two books on accident prevention which were later published. I also took an interest in Family History, exploring where my ancestors came from. I found in 2002 that my paternal Great Grandfather, Dr Charles Cooper Burrows, had been killed on April 3, 1866, when a massive explosion destroyed the steamship European while it was being unloaded at the port of Aspinwall, on the Caribbean coast of the Isthmus of Panama. It was carrying Nitro-Glycerine a highly explosive and unstable chemical bound for California. It was Dr Burrows' first post as a ship's surgeon and the ship was on its maiden voyage from Liverpool. What a coincidence that I should be involved in a major chemical accident over 100 years later and should then devote my career to preventing such terrible events.