It was slightly after 8 p.m. on Feb. 9, 1947, when a blast rocked West Toledo. A boiler exploded in a heating plant at Toledo’s Division of Streets building, 805 Wolcott Blvd., and sent debris flying, damaging buildings more than 200 yards away and rattling homes in a wider area.

The cause of the explosion was not known, but District Fire Chief Roy Davis placed damage at $60,000.

PHOTO GALLERY: Pictures of the Week, February 6-12, 2017

This historical Toledo Blade file photo shows the scene. The heating plant housed boilers for the city building and the Allis-Chalmers factory sales branch. The heating plant was demolished, and all of the windows in the adjoining city building as well as in the Allis-Chalmers factory were broken out by the blast.

City street equipment was not damaged and no injuries were reported. The boiler that exploded had been installed nine years earlier when the city leased the building from the Kasle Iron and Metal Co.

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First Published February 13, 2017, 5:00 a.m.