KABOOB!! A Gas Explosion Close To Home

Ouch, that sounds awful. I hope no one seriously hurt. But, it sounds like they were.

Listening to the radio this morning it was just reported that someone may be trapped in the debris. I'm sure there will be pictures and I should check the local TV news to see what they have on it. I called a morning radio talk show and told them about how the house shook at

TDD

as a child a nearby home exploded, i was at school aways away it sounded like a sonic boom. when i got home from schoold debris were in our yard. the homes location is still a vacant lot. this was amnor explosion.

in crafton pa gas workers managed to cause a major explosion with a bunch of people killed, it was a big event. I liked to watch the crews working, luckily i wasnt there that day...

Hardly a day goes by without a gas explosion somewhere in the US during heating season, and even outside heating season they seem to be at least monthly. Gas simply isn't safe for residential use, and is even dangerous in industrial settings - recall the gas pipeline explosion in CA, the gas explosion at the power plant under construction in CT, a gas pipeline explosion under and apt building in NJ I think it was, etc.

On 12/17/2013 8:41 AM, Pete C. wrote: ...

Nonsense. It does require a certain level of care, however, but so does electricity and any other energy source. Consider the number of residences and miles of pipeline that _didn't_ "go boom".

All of the incidents you describe were the result of an error of commission or omission -- lack of maintenance is certainly a problem that needs addressing on older lines, that is true.

TDD

Safe is, as safe does. I'd not cancel all gas service because a few people are unsafe. Any more than I'd outlaw guns because a few people rob banks.

Who needs more bad news? I don't.

We now know the freeloader hypocrite lives in a southern redneck, racist shithole - that explains a lot.

Maybe you can get a job doing cleanup instead of sucking off the tit of tax payers.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Rescue crews searched Tuesday for two people reported missing after a gas line explosion at an apartment complex in Birmingham, Ala., officials said.

Do some research before you blurt out statements like "Gas simply isn't safe for residential use, and is even dangerous in industrial settings." Give us some facts, not opinions. Nothing is 100% safe.

Gordon Shumway wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Bullshit.

Just ignore him. "Pete C" is a well-known Usenet kook who happens to have a "thing" about the supposed grave hazards of natural gas. He's been spouting the same garbage for years. Hardly anyone takes him seriously.

Millions more people die from strokes, cancer, liver disease, dementia, heart disease and diabetes yet that doesn't stop the McJunkFood chain from selling slabs of fat, salt and sugar disguised as food.

Got any of those diseases yet? Have some more fast food, you will!

TDD

Just curious, why would you think that when you really don't have a clue as to what happened?

Thanks for posting that. I didn't see this on any of the morning news shows today. Wake up call for everyone to check their utilities & appliances.

One dry winter days I used to keep a pot of water simmering on low on the gas stove. One time I smelled gas and saw that the flame had gone out. First thing I did was turn the knob off. Not that bright -- to turn the flow off from the 'low' setting, it first increases the gas flow, then fires an arc to light the gas. Fortunately there was not enough gas to light. Next time I'll remember to open the doors and air out first.

There was a couple in Indianapolis who rigged their n.g. supply to blow up their house for insurance money prosecuted last year, I believe. They turned on gas and rigged a timer to cause explosion. I believe it failed on the first try, so they went back to make adjustments. When the house blew up, it destroyed several neighboring homes and killed two neighbors. One clue to their guilt was that they took their cat with them when they left, I think.

Close they boarded it while they overnighted at a casino. Twice. First of all who boards a cat overnight and secondly it was the only two times in the years-long history of the cat that it was boareded for any reason. Rocket scientists they weren't.

Per Oren:

Something like that happened with PECo (was "Philadelphia Electric Company) some years back while I was working for them.

Google "Norristown Gas Explosion".

After something like an hour, somebody finally called the fire department which did respond - but just in time to witness the explosion.

IIRC, two people died and PECo wound up forking over 13 mil in damages.

Having been in meetings with the VP in charge, my opinion was that the employees in that sector were so demoralized that nobody was available to make a timely inspection of the reported area. She was, as they say in Philly, "A real piece of work".

I've seen fires caused by folks fooling around with gas in cold weather. I'm guessing that someone could have been screwing around with a space heater. Temps have been very low around here for the past week. The was some talk about them smelling gas during the Summer and there was no explosion last summer. Me and my late friend GB repaired a lot of gas lines for folks who tried DIY with their gas appliances. If a tiny leak develops in a space heater, the place can fill with gas and when the gas comes in contact with pilot light on the water heater, you get a big boom. I certainly don't find anything amusing about the accident because there were children harmed and that makes me mad. Alabama Gas is very good about responding to reports of leaks no matter what neighborhood it is. I've call the fire department before when I caught a strong odor of a gas leak when I was driving through a neighborhood and the fire department and gas company responded quickly. It wasn't a small leak if I could smell it while driving. If a leak had been reported to Alabama Gas, I know darn well the guys would have been right out there tracking it down. o_O

TDD