Very rare "Report of Toxicological Exposure" issued to James D. Gleaves, a North American Aviation mechanical technician present during the Apollo 1 tragedy. The report, five pages, 8 x 10.5, lists various information related to Gleaves and the accident, including: Date of Exposure ("27 Jan 67"), Organizational Address ("North American Aviat. Cocoa Beach, Fla"), Age ("34"), Operational Occupation ("Space Veh. Test. Mech."), Agents Involved ("Berylium, potential"), Exposure Duration ("15" minutes), Route of Body Entry ("Inhalation"), and Primary Body System Affected ("Lungs"). Lower portion features a handwritten description of incident: "Cx 34 Apollo fire 1/27/67. Subject was in capsule area approx. 10-15 minutes after start of fire attempting to assist in rescue. Retreated periodically for fresh air. Use of Perspiratory equipment minimal. Claimed equipment would not allow passage of air." The succeeding four pages concerning "Clinical Data" and "Environmental Conditions" include only the mention of fumes as "BeO" and the lack of used filtration. In fine condition. Gleaves was one of three North American employees present at the fire, which also included Pad Leader Donald O. Babbitt and Systems Technician L. D. Reece. Moments after the first distress call was heard, a concussive flash of flame sent the men reeling, but only to return seconds later, battling against smoke and fire in an attempt to release the trapped astronauts. More and more men joined the effort, each one leaving intermittently to gasp for fresh air. When the fire was finally extinguished, the bodies of the Apollo 1 crew were recovered some fifteen minutes after the initial outcry of fire. A rare and entirely poignant official document relating to the tragic genesis of the Apollo program. From the collection of aerospace memorabilia specialist Ken Havekotte.
