Mineral Wells Index (Mineral Wells, Tex.), Vol. 82, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 13, 1982 Page: 1 of 12
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CCY-:.-i L IbR.Ari Y
P O DOX 339
A Newspaper Dedicated To The People It Serves
■ »
Thursday, May 13. 1982
Twenty FiveCents
82nd Year Volume No. 8
Mineral Wells, Texas
One Section 12 Pages
(Index Photo by Bill Bennie)
Home Remains
Phase I complete on
city fire training site
4 oilfield workers
die in Jack County
County tax board to receive petition
Inside
British warship hit by torpedo
To be valid, the petition must contain
the signatures of 10 percent of the
registered voters in the county, or 1,100
signatures.
If found valid, the board would have
to call an election to allow county
voters to determine if they want all
district taxes to be collected by the
county tax office.
County Tax Assessor - Collector John
Winters has said he would charge taxing
agencies 1 percent of collections.
southwestern part of the county.
Unconfirmed reports stated that a car
had been washed off a road near Gamer
when a creek overflowed its banks.
Parker County officials were still
surveying damages today, and County
Judge Gerald Birdwell said he was
awaiting reports from commissioners
and Tanner this morning.
More details on area weather
damage on page 4.
...6-8
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10-12
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A British warship was hit but not
badly damaged by an Argentine torpedo
in the Falkland Islands fighting
Wednesday in which two Argentine
Skyhawk fighter - bombers were shot
down, a London radio station reported
today.
The British. Defense Ministry said it
had no information about a torpedo
attack.
London Broadcasting Corp., an all -
news radio station in the British capital,
said it had learned exclusively of the
torpedo attack off the Falkland Islands.
“One of Britain’s warships in the
South Atlantic, a type 22 frigate, is
believed to have been hit but not badly
damaged by a torpedo during the
incident yesterday in which two
Argentine jets were shot down,” the
radio said.
accident occurred at 3:40 p.m.
The vehicle reportedly failed to
negotiate a curve and ran off the road
on the left side. When the driver
overcorrected, the vehicle crossed the
road and ran into the right bar ditch,
traveling down the ditch for some
distance before striking a tree.
Three occupants of the vehicle, Sam
Wallace, Donnie Wade and Troy
Childers, all roughnecks were
pronounced dead at the scene by Jack
County Justice of the Peace J.L.
Lace well.
Stephens was taken to Harris Hospital
where he was reported in critical
condition with head injuries.
A Windthorst man was also killed in
an accident on Farm Road 1191 3.7
miles north of Bryson at 7 am.
Department of Public Safety reports
state that Joe Koetter, 60, a driller, was
killed when he was thrown from the
pickup truck he was driving and the
truck rolled over on him.
Two other occupants of the truck
escaped serious injury in the accident.
According to the report of the
accident, Koetter was southbound at a
high rate of speed when he lost control
of the truck in light min and skidded off
the left side of the road, striking a
driveway culvert. The truck rolled
over 1% times. Koetter, who wee not
wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from the
truck, which rolled over on him, pinning
him under the left rear quarter panel.
He was pronounced dead at the scene
by a Jack County justice of the peace.
The bodies of the four victims were
all taken to Hawkina Funeral Home In
Jacksboro.
A petition calling for a special
election to determine if tax collection
services will be consolidated in the
county tax office will be presented to
the Palo Pinto Appraisal District board
at its 7 p.m. meeting tonight in the tax
office.
The petition, sponsored by Palo Pinto their city, school, county and special
County resident Mary Jane Birdwell,
must be reviewed by the board and
declared valid or invalid within 10 days.
If not acted on in that time, the petition
automatically becomes valid.
be initiated when the necessary
equipment is obtained.
Porter stated that while summer
vacations and other factors could slow
progress on the field during the next
few months, he assured that work will
continue on a steady basis.
After its completion the center will
be used to train area volunteers to deal
with the hazards of firefighting in the
safest and most efficient manner.
Instructors will include Porter, Lt. John
Gilbert, EMS technician Joe Don Janies
and a number of faculty members from
Weatherford College.
U.N. Secretary - General Javier Perez
de Cuellar said he did not i think the
continuing clashes would have any
effect on his efforts to negotiate a
framework for peace negotiations.
“I still feel that perhaps at the end of
the week we might have some really
positive results,” he said. More talks
were scheduled at U.N. headquarters in
New York today.
Argentine President Leopoldo
Galtieri said “there’s always the
possibility of an honorable solution for
both sides.” But he said if the British
keep attacking, “Argentina Is spiritually
and militarily prepared to respond.”
Foreign Minister Nicanor Costa
Mendez told reporters the negotiations
“are advancing very slowly. They have
not broken down. They are not
stalemated.”
MINERAL WELLS AREA
— Flash flood watch today
with cloudy conditions and
occasional showers and
thunderstorms today and
tonight Some possibly severe
with heavy rain.
Storms ending tonight and
Friday, continued warm with
low tonight low 60s. High
Friday near 80. Partly cloudy
and warm Saturday through
.Monday.
Mrs. Sandra Walker, 26, and her 10 • month • old daughter were in the mobile home (above) when a tornado struck at around
3:15 p.m. Wednesday. The location is 22 miles south of Mineral Wells about a mile off US 281. Both were taken to Harris
Hospital in FL Worth where they were treated for fractures, cuts and abrasions. Four or five other homes were destroyed or
heavily damaged by this twister, only one of many to skip through this area on Wednesday afternoon and night. Damage
reports were still coming in today. More photos on page 4 of today’s Index.
Torrential rains, angry winds arid
funnel clouds ravaged Palo Pinto and
Parker Counties Wednesday, with a
tornado in the Morgan Mill area injuring
a mother and her baby daughter and
inflicting some $112,000 worth of
property damage.
Area residents spent the entire day
under tornado and flash flood warnings,
with local rainfall averaging about 4.5
inches according to most reports.
Major damage in the Morgan Mill area
occurred between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
when a tornado touched ground near
i Patillo in Erath County, then skipped
about seven miles into Palo Pinto
County. A Department of Public Safety
spokesman estimated the total damage
will exceed $150,000.
Sandra Walker, 26, and her 10 •
month old daughter sustained
numerous injuries when the -twister
struck their mobile home just west of
the Highway 281 and FM 2803.
intersection.
The trailer reortedly overturned a
r. number of times and was completely
| demolished, with the metal frame
impaled across a tree. Walker was said to
have suffered head and leg injuries and
her daughter allegedly sustained a
broken leg. Both were transported to
Harris Hospital in Fort Worth.
“I don’t know how she lived,”
remarked one observer of the wreckage.
The mangled frame rested some 20
yards away from its original spot.
Among other mobile homes, houses
and farm buildings, the same tornado
also struck the L&L 281 Grocery a few
miles away. The roof was stripped from
the entier western part of the building
and debris was strewn across Highway
J 281.
The first phase of construction for
the new firefighter training center at the
Wolters Industrial Complex has been
completed, announced EMS technician
and firefighter Doug Porter.
That phase involved all preparation
for above • ground construction,
including roadwork, piping for the
transport of water and fuel and other
preliminary work.
Porter said that some 1100 feet of
pipe was installed underground during
the past few months, and added that the
driveway base materials have been
moved into the area and rolled.
The next phase will include the
readying of the field for aircraft
firefighting, vehicle extrication, various
firefighting projects, the permanent
placement of a drill tower and the
placement and completion of a
“smokehouse” or “bum -building.”
According to Porter the Weatherford
Aller' the storm passed, she said, the
family went outside to survey damages
and saw a large object laying in the
driveway. When daylight came, she said,
they discovered it was the neighbor’s
bam.
A large oak tree in a neighbor’s yard
had been uprooted, she said, and a small
metal shed was wrapped around another
tree. A trailer house in the area was also
blown off its foundation.
The storm . went around her
daughter’s house trailer, She said, and
twisted a swing set in the yard before
demolishing another bam. The roof of a
house across the road was tom off,
before the funnel skipped up the
highway to Cool, knocking down trees
along the way.
“If I had seen all that stuff flying
through the air, they probably would
have had to sedate me,” Mrs. Young
said today.
She said area residents had been on
the alert for tornadoes since a state
trooper had told them earlier in the day
no mention of damage to the British
ships or casualties.
The spokesman also announced that a
British Sea King helicopter ditched in
the sea near the Falklands, and two
other helicopters rescued the four
crewmen. He said there was no evidence
the chopper was lost through enemy
Argentina’s account said two British
frigates shelled Stanley, the Falklands
capital, late Wednesday morning;
Argentine planes attacked the frigate
three hours, causing “considerable
dam*e to them,” and Argentine shore
personnel shot down the helicopter.
“As a result of these actions, two
Argentine airplanes were downed,” the
communique said.
Neither the British nor the Argentines
said anything about the Skvhawk pilots,
and it was assumed they were lost.
4.30
4.50
4.50
4.75
6.40
2.39
4.10
6.50
about a funnel that had struck near
Lipan in northwest Hood County.
She said residents of the area were
“thankful we had homes to go to” after
the storm struck last night.
The funnel cloud apparently then
moved on to Cool and to Lambert.
Tanner said he began heading towards
the area when a funnel cloud was
reported on radar five miles east of
Mineral Wells about 11:45 pjn.—-
Tanner said he was approacing
Lambert when he received reports of
damage in the area, and said he observed
a second funnel cloud moving to his
right at that time. “Two went through,
followed by a third (funnel),” Tanner
said. He added, “There’s no doubt they
were tornadoes."
Tanner, who said he was still in the
process of surveying damages in the
county, said the twister moved from
Lambert to the Shady Grove
community northwest of Weatherford
where two barns, a feed bin and a house
trailer on a dairy farm on the Old
Gamer Road were destroyed.
Three dairy workers in the trailer
received minor injuries, Tanner said.
The funnel then moved up to Fann
Road 1885 and Farm ’Road 920
between Peaster and Weatherford where
a large bam on the Don Smelley dairy
was reportedly destroyed before the
fennel skipped to the Agnes community
between Springtown and Poolville.
Tanner said a trailer house in Agnes
reportedly was blown off its foundation
by the funnel, which he said was the
same stprm that had moved through
Millsap and Lambert.
He said the storm left an eight - mile
long path from Lambert to Agnes.
Heavy rains that accompanied the
storms reportedly washed out several
roads and bridges in the northwestern
Rainfall
Rainfall for the 2 • day period
ending at 8 a.m. for Mineral Wells
and surrounding area is reported as
follows:
SEMW .
NWMW.
SWMW .
Progress
Perrin ..
PK Lake
Santo ..
Millsap .
Mineral Wells Index
Britain is known to have two type 22
frigates, the Broadsword and Brilliant,
in its Falklands task force.
Earlier, the British battie fleet
reported downing the Argentine planes
and losing a helicopter, but said the
chopper crew was rescued.
British and Argentine reports of the
action Wednesday agreed on the loss of action,
the three aircraft but differed on the
circumstances.
The British said one of their
destroyers brought the two U.S. - built
Skyhawk fighter • bombers down with
Sea Wolf missiles when they attacked it
between 20 and 30 miles west of the
Falklands.
A British spokesman said another
Skyhawk escaped,, and “further
Argentine sorties were made” against
the British fleet blockading the islands.
But he said reports from the fleet made
Four oilfield workers were killed and
another critically injured in two
seperate accidents in Jack County on
Wednesday.
A one - vehicle accident on Farm
Road 206 seven miles south of
Jacksboro claimed the lives of three
Jacksboro residents and sent another to
Harris Hospital in Fort Worth in critical
condition.
According to Department of Public
Safety reports, a 1976 Chevrolet driven
by Gary Lloyd Stephens, 30, of
Jacksboro was northbound on FM 206
at a high rate of speed when the
Volunteer Fire Department has
indicated that it will construct a
permanent cinderblock building with
volunteer labor and materials. That
structure would be used for setting
simulated fires, and would be non -
combustable. He added, however, that
plans for that project have not yet been
finalized.
In the meantime Mineral Wells
volunteers are now in the process of
obtaining a drill tower. It is hoped that
the tower can be transported to the site
by next week, said Porter.
Plans are also being formulated for a
liquid propane gas firefighting project, to
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were destroyed, he said.
No injuries occurred in that
community. Tanner said. He said
occupants of one of the trailer homes
hit by the twister huddled under a bed
in the home while the winds tore the
end off the trailer.
Tanner said a pickup truck at the
residence was overturned, and a 2'/4 ton
truck was lifted onto the overturned
pickup truck. —
No homes were destroyed. Tanner
said, adding that the losses that were
considered total were to trailer homes
and bams., ■ ' .
He said damage in that community
would probably total $500,000 when I
surveys were completed.
From the interstate, the fennel
traveled a path up Farm Road 113
through Millsap, dancing from one side
of the road to the other, according to
Millsap resident Mrs. Joe Young.
First property damage reports were at
Joe’s Country Store at FM 113 and I -
20 where a firecracker stand was hit,
and about 50 peach trees in an orchard
were tom up. Two bams in the area
were also destroyed.
Mr?. Young said the funnel then
skipped up the highway to her property
1.5 miles south of Millsap where it
deposited the roof of a neighbor’s bam
onto a power line and fence at their
home.
She said she was lying on a couch in
her home when the storm began at 10
p.m. and said she became frightened
when the wind started “whistling at the
back door.”
She said when lights in the home
began flickering, she got out a Coleman
lantern. When the lights did go out, she
said, lite wind was so strong inside the
house that it kept Mowing out th£
id Agnes Unford whose husband match*' Ae had struck to light the u - .. . -ufA
ayne Unford leases the combination - hfttefrn?
grocery and residence. “It must have *tnrm naaaod «h«> said, the bridge reportedly was wasneo out m tn
traveled several miles on the ground.”
She said that .the funnel cloud
suddenly struck the house at about 3:15
p.m., virtually destroying the western
half of the structure. “I’ve been through
four of these things, and I don’t know
how to describe it,” she commented.
Earlier in the day, at about 10:30
a.m. a tornado was reportedly spotted
southwest of Palo Pinto. Numerous
residents sought shelter in the
courthouse, but the funnel cloud never
touched ground.
Property damage and injuries were
also reported in Parker County, where
70 • mph winds destroyed six mobile
homes at Western Lake Estates west of
Weatherford. Si:: park residents were
taken to Campbell Memorial Hospital to
undergo treatment for minor injuries,
and Red Cross volunteers supplied food
and shelter for victims. At least a dozen
more trailers were damaged, it was
reported.
Heavy rains also created hazards in
the local area, with at least one power
line being felled on S. Ojak Ave. in
Mineral Wells. Reports of rainfall varied
in different areas, ranging from a 4.5
inch average here to over seven inches in
Stephenville. High water on low - lying
streets was a serious problem during the
late afternoon, with school buses
struggling to return children safely
home. . .
Violent thunderstorms that lashed
Palo Pinto and Parker Counties late
Wednesday night spawned a trio of
tornadoes that tore a path from
Interstate 20 south of Millsap • in
Southwestern Parker County to Agnes
in the north part of the county about
11:45 p.m.
Parker County Civil Defense Director
T.R. Tanner said today that the most
extensive damage occurred in the
Lambert Community off U.S. 180 east
of Mineral Wells where one trailer house
was destroyed and eigtft houses suffered
moderate damages. Some 12 to 15 barns
Storms ravage local
area on Wednesday
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Bennie, Bill. Mineral Wells Index (Mineral Wells, Tex.), Vol. 82, No. 8, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 13, 1982, newspaper, May 13, 1982; Mineral Wells, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1171834/m1/1/: accessed June 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boyce Ditto Public Library.