Danielle Dawn Smalley
About Danielle
A gifted individual with a bright future, she had received a scholarship to pursue theater and music at Trinity Valley Community College, making her the first in her family to embark on a college journey. Little did anyone know, a heartbreaking tragedy awaited the 18-year-old that would change everything forever.
She’s A Hero!
“I want people to remember them as heroes.”
–Kennimer, a longtime friend of Danny Smalley (at foundation grand opening in 2002)
When unfamiliar smells filled the air in their rural community, Danielle and her 17-year-old friend and neighbor, Jason Stone, hopped into an old pickup truck to warn others and seek assistance.
However, not long after leaving her house, the engine stalled and the truck died. As Danielle attempted to restart the engine, it ignited a dangerous 15-acre vapor cloud. The butane vapors, which were heavier than air, had leaked from a pipeline located 200 yards from the Smalley residence and traveled along a dry creek bed, where they encountered the ignition source.
The truck was propelled 40 feet to the side, leaving a 20-foot-deep crater in the ground. Tragically, the two teenagers lost their lives instantly.
This catastrophic incident revealed that if Danielle’s vehicle hadn’t sparked the vapors, the consequences could have been even greater, potentially endangering the first responders who were on their way to the scene in response to 911 calls. Danielle arrived just minutes before them. The road also served as a local school bus route, but the incident occurred just days before the new school year was set to begin.
The Accident | Aug. 24, 1996 | KEMP, Texas
Originally published on Aug. 26, 1996 by The Associated Press
A liquid butane pipeline broke and exploded near a subdivision in this northeast Texas town, killing two teenagers who inadvertently triggered the blast with an ignition spark from their truck.
One home was destroyed in the 3:30 p.m. explosion, and about 50 others were evacuated in the rural neighborhood while firefighters allowed the underground pipeline to burn. A man in the neighborhood noticed the leak and sent his daughter, Danielle Smalley, and her friend, Jason Stone, to report it. The teenagers triggered the blast with an ignition spark from their truck as they were driving away, said Kaufman County Sheriff Robert Harris.
Ms. Smalley and Mr. Stone, both 17, were killed. There were no other injuries. Flames reached dozens of feet high, and a column of black smoke could be seen for miles as firefighters from six communities were called in.
Authorities said fuel to the line had been cut off by 6 p.m., but residual fuel continued to burn throughout the evening.
Koch Industries headquartered in Wichita, Kan operated the 8-inch pipeline, stretching from Medford, Okla., to Mont Belvieu, Texas.
A woman who answered the telephone at the nearby Scurry Volunteer Fire Department said the blast occurred near a subdivision called Beautiful Acres close to the small, unincorporated community of Lively. The town is about 10 miles west of Kemp, which has a population of about 1,280. Kemp is 42 miles southeast of Dallas.
Click HERE to read the NTSB incident report.