Nestled on a bend of the Monongahela River 20 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, Donora went by several names before it incorporated in 1900. By 1902, the Carnegie Steel Corp. completed its first facility in Donora. The corporate conglomerate added a zinc smelting works to its Donora operations in 1915. Soon afterward, residents filed a lawsuit complaining of deterioration in their health and the environment of the area. Industry occupied miles of riverfront and pumped streams of toxic gases and heavy metals into the air of Donora and the city of Webster across the river. Still, Donora’s population jumped by nearly threefold with the rise of industry. By the postwar boom of the mid-20th century, roughly half of the town’s then 14,000 residents found employment under the U.S. Steel subsidiary of American Steel & Wire Co.
At the same time, evidence of the dangers of industrial pollution had begun to surface. In 1930, industrial pollution, weather and geography produced a deadly smog in the Meuse Valley of Belgium, killing 63 people. Scientists anticipated that the event could recur with more disastrous results, but their concerns went unheeded. Eighteen years later, Donora residents awoke the morning of Oct. 27, 1948, to an exceptionally thick, yellow smog enveloping the streets.
The acidic haze trapped in their section of the Mon Valley burned the eyes and throats of those who inhaled it. The scale of those in respiratory distress soon overwhelmed hospitals. A temporary relief hospital went up while first responders went door to door rationing a supply of oxygen. Poor visibility prevented residents from navigating the streets to escape. Pedestrians with flashlights had to guide emergency vehicles. By the early morning of Oct. 30, the smog claimed its first fatality. By the end of the day, it had killed 17 more locals. A basement became a temporary morgue.
Initially, American Steel & Wire deflected blame for the suspicious smog and refused to cease operations. With seven of the eight city council members employed by the company, the government also hesitated to shut down the industrial giant. On Oct. 31, the smokestacks finally halted, and rain helped wash away the smog’s remnants. Altogether, the fatal fog lingered for five days, taking 20 lives.