In A Small Steel Town, A Deadly Smog Event Sparked A Week Of Terror

The modern “clean air” movement in the United States can be traced back to one small mill town in western Pennsylvania. In one brutal week in 1948, Donora’s roughly 14,000 residents went about their daily lives while being subjected to one of the worst public health and environmental disasters in United States history.

The Donora Smog of 1948 began on Oct. 27 and lasted until Oct. 31, when rain cleared the combined smoke, fog and pollution that had become trapped over the town. In those four days, 800 animals died, 7,000 people were sickened and 20 people were killed mostly by asthma-related ailments, all caused by the trapped air pollution. PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES