Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee were killed
tonight in a flash fire during tests of the Apollo Saturn 204 vehicle at Cape
Kennedy
The fire occurred while the astronauts were in the spacecraft during the
countdown of a simulated flight test
The accident occurred at 5:31 Houston time
Or at T-10 minutes prior to the planned, simulated liftoff
The spacecraft was atop the Saturn launch vehicle some 218 feet above the
launchpad
The hatches on the spacecraft had been closed
Emergency crews were hampered by dense smoke in removing the hatches
And an unknown number of launch crew workers were treated for smoke inhalation
At the Cape Kennedy Dispensary
The crew had entered the spacecraft at 2 o’clock this afternoon
Minor difficulties had been encountered during the countdown
The difficulty was the Environmental Control System
And the Communication System
All recorded data has been impounded pending an investigation into the accident
that claimed the lives of astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee
