Boiler Troubles

I stopped in today at the hospital where I used to work.  They showed me this 500 horse power boiler that had been allowed to run dry.  Temperatures exceeded 1000 degrees and the only reason it didn't explode was that the operator, when he discovered the problem, was unable to get the water pumps to run.    If he had been able to get that cold water into such a hot place the instantaneous expansion into steam would have caused an explosion that you would have read about in the world's newspapers.  
I can't say how scary this picture is.  God must have been looking out for them that night.