As rush hour came to a close on the evening of May 25, 1950, one of Chicago s new fast, colorful, streamlined streetcars known as a Green Hornet slammed into a gas truck at State Street and 62nd Place. The Hornet s motorman allegedly failed to heed the warnings of a flagger attempting to route it around a flooded underpass, and the trolley, packed with commuters on their way home, barreled into eight thousand gallons of gasoline. The gas erupted into flames, poured onto State Street, and quickly engulfed the Hornet, shooting flames two hundred and fifty feet into the air. More than half of...