On Thursday, July 5th, 1973 at approximately 1:30 pm, two employees of Droxol Propane were in the process of off-loading the contents of the 127 kl (33,500 gal) railroad tank car into two propane storage tanks. When the valves were opened, one of the connections was discovered to be leaking. One of the employees attempted to stop the leak. It is believed that the employee somehow generated a spark that ignited the leaking propane. Both of the employees were either knocked down or fell from the tank car. One of the employees was able to stumble across the street to the Highway Patrol Office to ask for help.
In 1973 the Kingman Fire Department was a combination of 6 career firefighters and 36 volunteers operating out of two stations. Equipment in service at the time consisted of 4 engines and a rescue vehicle. Station 2 was located just 800 m (.5 mi) west of the Droxol Gas Distribution Plant.