Gas Explosion in flats.

[Ed Sirett]

Some of you may have seen this news item.

block consists of top flats over groups of three town houses. The house which blew up was unoccupied. Transco had been called because of the smell of gas and had already been digging up the road looking for the leak for 6 hours before the blast.

The flat on top has been very seriously damaged (balcony fell off, much water damage, everything glass shattered, all windows (on the other side to the photo) broken, water damage from fire service etc. etc.

How do I know? The flat on top belongs to my Dad and his wife, they are now living for the next six months with my sister a few miles away.

I normally have some respect for many of the Transco guys but I want to know what they were doing for six hours before the blast nearly killed them. Fortunately they got away with a few cuts and bruises.

[Owain]

Crikey. Hope they're okay. Insurance or compensation may pay for temporary housing.

Having a quiet smoke?

Owain

[tony sayer]

In article , Ed Sirett scribeth thus

Sad as that undoubtedly is Ed, surely this is for an H&S executive enquiry to find out what went wrong, and then decide who was to blame unless you have firm evidence otherwise in which case I'm sure you'll give them that....

[Bob Eager]

There was a bit on the local news this morning (I'm in Kent). Someone was quoted as saying that they had actually turned off the gas, but levels were not dropping - and they couldn't work out why.

[dom]

Sorry to hear about what happened to your dad and his wife.

I wonder what the the escalation process is after detecting a leak. I would hope that if a leak is detected, that unless the cause can be rapidly found, they call in the cavalry. Maybe they misdiagnosed another leak as the cause.

[dmc]

Ouch. This isn't far from us - I remember hearing all the sirens (we aren't far from the ambulance station) and wondering wtf was going on.

Strange how it all feels more personal now I know someone who I know (well, know of virtually) had someone involved. Wierd.

Good news. Seems everyone got away with minimal injurys. Will be interesting to here the outcome of the investigation...

Hope your dad and missus get on ok.

Darren

[A.Clews]

Thus spake Owain ( [e-mail]) unto the assembled multitudes:

One night in the street where I lived some 20 years ago I noticed a very strong smell of gas. I called the British Gas people out (this was years before everything got contracted out), and they attended within the hour (this was at nearly midnight). As the crew were digging a hole, one of them nonchalantly lit a pipe. I guess the concentration of gas was well below flammability, but it did give me the willies at the time, I can tell you.

They had the leak fixed within an hour or two. It must have been leaking for quite some time because a nearby tree growing out of the verge died, presumably from gas getting around its roots.

[geoff]

In message , [e-mail] writes

Gas is explosive in a concentration of between 5 and 15 percent

[Ed Sirett]

I suspect that this was a lot of gas, given the huge fireball that came after the blast I suspect that the concentration may have been towards the UEL.

[Ed Sirett]

I'm sure the H&S executive will make their investigations. I'll be interested to know how it happened.

I speculate that it could have been a broken service main as the ground around the flat is somewhat prone to movement. The block itself however is very strong being of reinforced concrete with foundations piled down to the bedrock.

[Ed Sirett]

I think they did call in the cavalry. One possible problem is that they may have been reluctant to gain entry to the empty house under my Dad's flat.

[Andrew Gabriel]

It could be that there was one room within the explosive range, and another room at a higher concentration, which was released by the explosion to form a fireball. A visible fireball probably requires an excess of gas and deficiency of oxygen in the mixture in order to create the classic fireball colour.

[Steve Walker]

Maybe you should re-word that last sentence ;)

SteveW

[Ed Sirett]

I've yet hear how/if the explosion has affected their relationship.

[geoff]

In message , Ed Sirett writes

"did the earth move ...?"

[Ed Sirett]

ROFL.

The earth moving may well be at the root of the matter.