Today is the 49th anniversary of one of the most tragic days in Fremont history.
On January 10, 1976 a natural gas explosion ripped through the six-story Hotel Pathfinder in downtown Fremont. The explosion killed 18 people and injured dozens more. Two others died later from injuries suffered from the blast.
In August of 1999, the National Fire Protection Agency listed the Hotel Pathfinder as the deadliest blaze in Nebraska in the 20th century.
Reports indicated that gas had seeped into the hotel basement, but no one was able to determine what ignited it. When the building exploded, the blast soared up through the elevator and mushroomed on the sixth floor.
Much of the hotel’s first two floors, which included a barbershop, drug store, dining room and ballroom fell into the basement.
More than 80 lawsuits were filed following the tragedy and Northern Natural Gas Co. was found liable.
