One Minute after Sunrise

About the Book

Whiting, Indiana – Saturday, August 27, 1955 – Sunrise, 6:11 a.m. It’s 80 degrees in the shade, and most of the city’s residents are still trying to sleep off an airless, oppressive night. But inside the plant at Whiting’s biggest employer (and one of the world’s largest oil refineries), something has gone horribly wrong…something that threatens to destroy the entire community.

The clock changes. 6:12 a.m.

This is the story of what happened at One Minute After Sunrise on that cataclysmic day in 1955, spoken in the words of the people who lived through it. It’s the story of how, in the passing of a single instant, their lives and their community were changed forever.

About the Author

John Hmurovic is an award-winning journalist and television news producer. This book is the result of a project by the Whiting-Robertsdale historical Society to collect and preserve memories of the 1955 refinery fire. That effort was honored by the Indiana Historical Society with its annual Outstanding Project Award for 2015.