Missile silos

See also: History of Chico
The missile silos (CASIL, USGS, US Census Bureau)

The missile silos (its formal designation was Beale 851-C and was also known as Complex 1C‎) were part of an Air Force installation located north of the Chico Municipal Airport in between Keefer Road and Cohasset Road. The silos were built to house Titan I missiles during the early 1960s and were dismantled and abandoned in 1965.

During its operational period, citizens of Chico protested the silos in various forms. A Chico resident named Wilhelmina Taggart, began to make weekly visits to the site to pray for peace. She was soon joined by Florence McLane, and Helen Kinnee. After the silos were closed, they began holding their peace vigil at Third and Main. These protests were the roots of the Chico Peace Endeavor.¹

851st Strategic Missile Squadron The missile site was part of the Beale Air Force Base's 851st Strategic Missile Squadron. The squadron consisted of three bases in California. The other two were located in the Sutter Buttes and the Placer County town of Lincoln. All together, the three facilities cost more than $40 million to build.

Construction on the complexes began on January 22, 1960. More than 600,000 cubic yards of earth and rock had to be excavated and reused as backfill. By the time the whole project was completed, each of the three complexes had received 32,000 cubic yards of concrete, 90 miles of cables, 300 tons of piping, and 1,800 separate supply items.

The sites were made active on April 20, 1962. One month later, on May 24, two explosions destroyed the missile in the No. 1 silo. An oxygen valve had stuck open and a blocked vent caused the gas to build up until a spark ignited it. However, the potentially catastrophic event was overshadowed in the national news by the launch of Scott Carpenter into space.

On June 6, trouble again struck as a flash fire in another silo killed a worker.

The silo was later repaired for an amount of at least $1,250,000. After damages were repaired, the Chico complex became operational on March 9, 1963.

The Defense Department phased out the Titan missile program in 1964 and on March 25, 1965 the program was officially ended. On Jan. 4, 1965, the first Titan at Chico was taken off alert.

In later years, many trespassers would make explorations of the abandoned silos, however the site is now privately-owned and fenced off from the general public.

• 7th Bombardment Wing
  

• Chico Beat:Ground Zero

Comments:

2009-01-29 18:35:02   Explosion yes. Titan no. The explosion was, as stated, caused by liquid fuel. However, fuel was stored seperately from the silo and only loaded in the event of a launch. Luckly, we never had to worry about a launch because the accidents delayed installation of the missiles long enough for the Titan to be deemed obsolete. A drunk H.S. student, after falling into a flooded silo, which have smooth cement walls, drown. He was unable to tread water while his friends drove back to town looking for rope. This is the only other fatality at the site that I am aware of. Drinking has claimed more souls in Chico than the combined branches of our military. —24.7.174.32

2009-03-20 23:01:38   two workers where killed during the excavation of the site. —208.106.53.220

2009-03-20 23:17:40   The missile did in fact burn inside the silo and was completely destroyed, this event occurred during testing by contractors before full transfer to the Air Force.The missile did not have the war head at the time. It may seem hard to believe but the remains of the missile were buried on site in the excavation spoils pile in the north west corner of the property. The Chico Titan site did in fact go operational on all three silos for a short period of time. —208.106.53.220