Alan H. Hansen
End of Watch: Thursday, July 19, 1973
Badge: 204
Age: 34
Officer Hansen was born in Springfield Gardens, New York. During his high school years he moved to Kingman, Arizona, where he graduated from Mohave County High School, in 1957. he joined the Highway Patrol on October 16, 1961, and had been stationed in Wickenburg, Gila Bend, and Phoenix.
On July 19, 1973, Officer/Firefighter Alan H. Hansen (#204) died of injuries sustained two weeks earlier when a railroad tanker loaded with butane exploded in Kingman.
On July 5, 1973, Officer/Firefighter Hansen arrived on the scene of a railroad tanker fire; he was on duty in a DPS patrol car. Alan was also a Kingman volunteer firefighter and recognized the severity of the situation. He donned his firefighting gear from the trunk of his patrol car and became one of the first firefighters on scene. Alan and 10 other Kingman firefighters worked to spray the tanker with water in an attempt to prevent an BLEVE explosion. Tragically, the railroad tanker filled with butane did explode.
Alan succumbed to his injuries 14 days later on July 19, 1973, at a Phoenix area hospital.
In all, 13 people were killed; 11 of those were Kingman firefighters. An additional 112 people were injured.
Officer/Firefighter Hansen is also memorialized at the following links:
Kingman Memorial and historical overview of event