William Casson, whose sons became volunteer firefighters with the Kingman Fire Department, was a Kingman native and World War II veteran, the district manager of the electric division of a local utilities company, and Captain Number One in the Fire Department, having been an assistant chief and chief. Eleven acclaimed firefighters, two members and nine volunteers of the Kingman Fire Department died as a result of a disastrous fire and explosion that ripped apart a railroad tanker car filled with propane gas as it was being off-loaded.