Thomas Farr; James Sheaves; Henry Gear, 1983
Ten days before Christmas in 1983, disaster struck at the aging blast furnace. An explosion shook the steel plant, and was heard by residents from as far away as five kilometres. Eyewitnesses described “huge flames, a large mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke, and pieces of hot metal thrust high into the air.” [1] Details were slow to emerge, but soon it became clear that three men had been killed and five more were injured. [2] The men who were killed in the explosion are the only names on the steelworkers’ monument for the year 1983. Their names are Thomas Farr, James Sheaves, and Henry
Gear. After the explosion, Farr had been trapped in the slag pit while the other men were evacuating the plant. Noticing that their friend was still inside, Gear and Sheaves returned to try to bring him out. None of them made it out alive. [3] Although there had been many advances in safety at the plant since its earliest days, working in steel remained a dangerous occupation. The experience of these three men in 1983, memorialized by the names on the Steelworkers’ Memorial Monument, represents the human costs of steelmaking in Sydney even during the later years of the plant.
By the time of the explosion in 1983, the province had already assumed the majority of Sysco’s $300 million of debt. The government, however, still maintained the theory that Sysco would be able to fund its own modernization. Although the market for steel was again in a slump, the plant was kept open so that the government would not have to create another Black Friday. Instead of announcing the closure of the plant, the provincial government began bleeding it of its funds and equipment. One of the newly built blast furnaces closed in 1988, as did the coke ovens. As Bishop argues, “Sysco had never recovered from the disastrous mistakes of the early years under provincial ownership.” [4]
Footnotes
[1] Chronicle-Herald, 17 December 1983.
[2] Chronicle-Herald, 16 December 1983.
[3] Maude Barlow and Elizabeth May, Frederick Street: Life and Death on Canada’s Love Canal (Toronto: HarperCollinsLtd, 2000).
[4] Bishop, “Sydney Steel,” 185.
Gear. After the explosion, Farr had been trapped in the slag pit while the other men were evacuating the plant. Noticing that their friend was still inside, Gear and Sheaves returned to try to bring him out. None of them made it out alive. [3] Although there had been many advances in safety at the plant since its earliest days, working in steel remained a dangerous occupation. The experience of these three men in 1983, memorialized by the names on the Steelworkers’ Memorial Monument, represents the human costs of steelmaking in Sydney even during the later years of the plant.
By the time of the explosion in 1983, the province had already assumed the majority of Sysco’s $300 million of debt. The government, however, still maintained the theory that Sysco would be able to fund its own modernization. Although the market for steel was again in a slump, the plant was kept open so that the government would not have to create another Black Friday. Instead of announcing the closure of the plant, the provincial government began bleeding it of its funds and equipment. One of the newly built blast furnaces closed in 1988, as did the coke ovens. As Bishop argues, “Sysco had never recovered from the disastrous mistakes of the early years under provincial ownership.” [4]
Footnotes
[1] Chronicle-Herald, 17 December 1983.
[2] Chronicle-Herald, 16 December 1983.
[3] Maude Barlow and Elizabeth May, Frederick Street: Life and Death on Canada’s Love Canal (Toronto: HarperCollinsLtd, 2000).
[4] Bishop, “Sydney Steel,” 185.