Tragic N. Annville Twp. explosion & fire 50 years ago remembered by eyewitness

What happened on Feb. 6, 1976, has replayed a thousand times in Rob Koehler’s mind. 

“I experienced it first hand. I was there. I saw it all, heard it all, felt it all,” Koehler said of the tragic explosion and fire where two individuals died and four others were injured with burns. “I was devastated.”

Koehler, 18 at the time, worked at Botz Auto Parts on the west side of Mill Street, north of Route 422 in North Annville Township. He said he had just completed a job in the yard when he decided to take a ride around the property in a “yard car.”

“It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. I was outside taking the left quarter glass out of a ’67 Chevelle. It was a slow afternoon … so instead of walking down off the hill with this window, I left it laying. I walked off the hill and hopped in what we call a yard car,” Koehler recalled.

It was a decision he believes saved his life or, at a minimum, prevented him from sustaining serious injuries.

“The only reason I did that was to kill time. It was that slow of a day. When I started the car, the building blew. So if I would have carried that window into the building as I should have, I would have been dead, badly burnt, or at least injured for sure,” Koehler added.

Unfortunately, four people were severely injured and two – business owner John P. Botz Jr. and Dennis Fitting – died on that fateful afternoon 50 years ago.

An explosion was caused by gasoline fumes when the furnace ignited, and the ensuing inferno burned the business to the ground, according to the Feb. 7, 1976, edition of the Lebanon Daily News.

Koehler believes it was by divine intervention that he’s still alive.

“So I praise the Lord that He had me goof off long enough to escape being in that building because back then I didn’t know the Lord, but I do now,” Koehler said. “God saved me from that because He had plans for me. He knew me before I knew Him. It wasn’t until several years later that I accepted Christ as my Savior.”

What happened that day is never far from his mind. 

“I often think back and I went over my steps a thousand times. I should have been inside the building but I wasn’t and God saved me. … And here I am 50 years later sitting here with you having an interview about the fire from 50 years ago,” added Koehler. 

This interview is another small step in the healing process for Koehler, who began to cry when first asked to relive what happened. He said he has only been able to open up about the tragedy beginning three years ago.  

“Three guys came running out at the back door. Their hands were just burnt a little bit. So, I ran around to the front and there was a guy, his name was Gil Weik. He was laying on the ground and I remember patting the last flame out of his clothing,” Koehler recalled. “He stood up and he looked at me. He said, ‘Robbie, do I look like I’m burned bad?’ And he didn’t. He just looked like his clothes were burned off of him.”

Weik, who was probably in shock, suffered severe burns and, according to news accounts, had to have at least four skin grafts to treat his injuries.

Multiple news briefs in the coming days indicate that a community fund was started for Weik, who was listed in critical condition through March 25 following the accident. 

Koehler’s father put together a notebook of news articles and photos shot by former LDN staff photographer James Zengerle, who was one of the first people on the scene, according to coverage of the explosion and aftermath.

LDN noted the fire was “apparently fed by fumes of some kind and this accounted for the rapidity with which the flames spread after the initial blast.” More explosions and the intense heat made it impossible to enter the structure.

“We couldn’t go in. Gil said that Johnny Botz would have been close by (Dennis) but I did not see him. I saw Dennis but there was nothing I could do. The building went up so quick and, you know, everything was, I was in shock,” Koehler said. “The state fire marshal told me that during an explosion, the explosion will push all the air out of your chest and you just collapse. So they didn’t feel a thing. Those were his words.”

Botz’s death was especially rough since their relationship was beyond employer/employee. Next door neighbors, Koehler began to hang out with Botz, a race car driver who also owned a race car garage, at age 13. Botz was a mentor to Koehler. 

“I’m hanging out at this race car garage. And I don’t do a lot of talking, but I would watch. And it got to the point I started to do more things,” Koehler said. “Johnny Botz had three junk Chevy engines up at his mom’s garage that they brought down and for some reason they had me tear them apart. So I learned how this stuff goes together.”

A mechanical prodigy in his youth, Koehler vividly remembers those learning experiences.

“I had a heck of a mess. But he did that ’cause he wanted me to learn. You know, he taught me to weld when I was 14. He taught me body work, engines, changing transmissions and clutches, and stuff like that,” he said. “I asked him one day,  ‘Why me? I’m nothing special. Why’d you take me under your wing and teach me this stuff?’ He said, ‘Because you showed an interest.’”

Botz, who was 32 when he passed away, was extremely popular on and off the race track, Koehler said.

“Johnny Botz worked at Cleaver Books before he bought the junkyard. And these guys just started showing up (during the fire),” Koehler said. “And I’m 18 years old. I mean, I didn’t turn 19 until six weeks later. And it just kept burning, burnt to the ground in no time.”

Koehler remembers the outpouring of community support during cleanup at the junkyard and especially the large turnout at Botz’s funeral.

“I was such a kid at a young age and this was just a tragedy. I remember the funeral when John was buried up at Grand View, and that funeral procession going up through there. There was a police car at every intersection,” Koehler said. “There were hundreds of cars in the procession. He could fix stuff. He was a good mechanic. I mean, he had that knack. … He was a mover and a shaker.”

Koehler remembers a particular attribute of the 21-year-old Fitting, who was also interred at Grand View Memorial Park. 

“He had the biggest smile of anybody I ever knew. The thing, another sad thing, was that Dennis and Gil Weik were just hanging out. They were into cars, Johnny Botz was into cars, and they could talk about cars, how to make them go faster, things like that. So Dennis and Gil, they were at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Koehler said.

Fitting was the kind of person Koehler said people would like to have as a friend.

“He had just a good attitude, just a fun person. He’d just walk in the room, and he’d be the guy you would want to hang out with because he was just fun. He wasn’t obnoxious, he wasn’t a jerk,” Koehler said. 

Koehler said he’s felt guilt over the years concerning Fitting. 

“I used to talk (a lot) about Johnny Botz in the race car, but you know, Dennis had a family too. He had a mom and dad. He had sisters and brothers. He had his big circle of friends,” he said. “I’m sorry I forget about him sometimes. And some of that is me seeing him in the fire, seeing his boots there in the fire, and I couldn’t do anything about it.”

It is understandable, however, that Koehler would have special memories of Botz given the massive influence he had in his life. Koehler eventually founded and owned Northside Truck Center and Truck Caps, Lebanon, until his retirement some 30-plus years after launching his automotive-based business.

Botz’s business was reopened by his wife, Sheila, about two weeks after the fire and Koehler said he stayed with the company for six to nine months. The knowledge he gained under Botz’s tutelage benefited him when running his own company.

“Say a snowplow was broken, I could weld it. If they didn’t make a truck hitch or something, I could make a hitch,” Koehler said. “I know what you are saying (about Botz’s influence) and I know that’s true, all that stuff. You know, I just didn’t like the way it ended.”