“Natural gas explosion kills nearly 300 at Texas school” At 3:05 p.m. on March 18, 1937, a Thursday afternoon, the 694 students and 40 teachers in attendance at the Consolidated School were looking forward to the final bell, which was to ring in 10 minutes. Instead, a huge and powerful explosion, which literally blew the roof off of the building, leveled the school. The blast, which came without w...