Firefighters inspecting the railroad tank car, rescuer Richard Davies (inset) and Denver Mayor Stapleton at the scene of the industrial accident.
Twenty-three people, including 13 Denver firemen, were overcome by the yellow-colored gas, the Associated Press reported. The tank car carried 16 tons of the chemical.
J.W. Gibbs, a plant worker, donned a gas mask and closed a leaking valve, AP said.
The firemen weren't equipped with masks, AP said. The entire crew of Engine Co. 10 was felled by the fumes, the Rocky Mountain News reported.
Richard Davies, 24, a Yale University student working at the plant, hustled into the gas to administer first aid with a flask of ammonia - a chemical that can counter the effects of chlorine, the News said.
Davies said he learned that in chemistry class.
"There wasn't time to wait for doctors and ambulances, so I just dived right in," Davies, who eventually fell ill, said from his bed at Denver General Hospital. The ammonia was stored in a plant emergency kit.
The Denver Fire Clay Co. was located at 32nd and Blake streets - in the "factory district," as the News called it.
Davies said he learned that in chemistry class.
"There wasn't time to wait for doctors and ambulances, so I just dived right in," Davies, who eventually fell ill, said from his bed at Denver General Hospital. The ammonia was stored in a plant emergency kit.
The Denver Fire Clay Co. was located at 32nd and Blake streets - in the "factory district," as the News called it.
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