Today in 1960, a BOMARC A surface-to-air missile on alert at McGuire AFB, New Jersey, caught fire. The high-intensity blaze melted the 10-kiloton W40 warhead and caused significant plutonium contamination of the surrounding soil that was not properly cleaned up until 2004. 
Officials at McGuire AFB (about ~16 mi. S-SE of Trenton) initially thought the fire was a "one-point" detonation—that one lens of conv. high explosives surrounding the plutonium pit had exploded, triggering a chain reaction. (The first version of the W40 was not one-point-safe.)
To read declassified US Air Force documents obtained by @NSArchive detailing the cause, immediate environmental impact, and health consequences to base personnel of this significant Broken Arrow nuclear accident, see nsarchive2.gwu.edu//nukevault/ebb… and nsarchive2.gwu.edu//nukevault/ebb….
Initially planned for 52 sites, BOMARC missiles were ultimately deployed at just eight US Air Force bases in Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia from 1959-72, and at two Royal Canadian Air Force bases in Ontario and Quebec from 1962-72.
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