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so a house in my neighborhood blew up...

H

HydroSqueegee

Golden Member
duplex 4 doors down from my old house was obliterated today around 2ish. gas leak. heard about it on my way out of town to indy. ill be able to get some pics tomorrow when I'm back in town. so far a bunch of people injured. one person missing.
Fairborn ohio. let me dig up a news link.
 
That sucks for the people. Typical dip shit contractor likely. Call before you dig. The utilities have hot lines and will send someone out to mark where their gas lines are. We get a lot of dig ins around here due to stupid water board knuckleheads digging first and not calling for mark outs.
 
lady from 809 swigart found the baby. we lived at 808. parents live halfway between there and our new place, (we live half mile away from old place) said their entire house shook.
we were half way to Indianapolis when we got the news. 🙁
 
AMCRambler said:
That sucks for the people. Typical dip shit contractor likely. Call before you dig. The utilities have hot lines and will send someone out to mark where their gas lines are. We get a lot of dig ins around here due to stupid water board knuckleheads digging first and not calling for mark outs.
Click to expand...

Day said the resident was having work done on a water line when a natural gas line was struck by a backhoe.
Click to expand...

ALWAYS call the various 800 services that come out and find the utilities for you at no charge before you dig...
I worked for the local electrical utility for 7 years...we ALWAYS called first...I spent a summer working as an equipment operator for PG&E...we ALWAYS called first.

I put in a french drain at my house and thought, "Ah hell, no problem, I can do this without calling..."
I came within about 2 inches of cutting the gas line that ran between my house and the neighbor's house. ("T'd" in the middle between the meters) with the trencher. I found it with a shovel while cleaning out the trench. <phew> It was buried right at 24 inches...and SHOULD have been at 36 inches. I called PG&E and bitched...
They came out and inspected the line...of course, they blamed it on the contractor who built the sub-division. 🙄
It's covered with concrete now, so it's "safe."
 
Why'd the house blow up if they hit a gas line with a backhoe? (Unless the backhoe was in the basement or something.) Seems like they should have had the fire outside, rather than inside; unless they were right next to the house when they struck the line & the gas went into the basement.

If that's the case, then why were residents still in the house? They should have been screaming for everyone to get the hell out. (And, if you hit a gas line, it doesn't just go "boom" - you need to get the air to the right concentration of gas before it ignites; seems it would take at least a few minutes to have enough energy to make that big of a kablooey.
 
I've seen a couple of gas line explosions. Yes, there's usually a quick rush of gas escaping in copious quantities, but it only takes a small spark to ignite it...

In this case, I wonder if they were working close to the house and when the gas ignited, it took the house with it.

These things can happen fast...

ap52.jpg
 
DrPizza said:
Why'd the house blow up if they hit a gas line with a backhoe? (Unless the backhoe was in the basement or something.) Seems like they should have had the fire outside, rather than inside; unless they were right next to the house when they struck the line & the gas went into the basement.

If that's the case, then why were residents still in the house? They should have been screaming for everyone to get the hell out. (And, if you hit a gas line, it doesn't just go "boom" - you need to get the air to the right concentration of gas before it ignites; seems it would take at least a few minutes to have enough energy to make that big of a kablooey.
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they go off like air fuel bombs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon
 
This is why I rent a nice solid concrete co-op apartment. I could never sleep in a house knowing it could just blow up went it wanted. Happens too often for my taste.
 
Is it that hard to call first, seriously.

I saw some contractors hit a gas line on our property fifteen years ago or so while installing fence posts, the gas was shooting thirty or so feet at a pretty good pressure. The PG&E guy walked up near it when they arrived and no shit, it blew his hat off. The gas, not an explosion.

They evacuated quite a few houses before getting it shut off. I wish I had a digital camera back then...
 
Wow - this thread quickly turned into an armchair-Batman discussion.

Anway, it's a shame regarding the loss of life and the havok caused to the surrounding houses; due to,...
Chase Kelley, a spokeswoman for the local gas utility, Vectren Corp., said the tragedy may have been avoided if the men doing the work had followed the proper procedures.
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,... carelessness has resulted in death.
 
Last friday utilities company came around . Our area lost gas . So he refired the hotwater heater. I told him I was thinking of upgrading the hot water heater , He told me not to , It seems that some of the newer stuff can explode when you loose gas and on restart Ka-Boom
 
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DrPizza said:
Why'd the house blow up if they hit a gas line with a backhoe? (Unless the backhoe was in the basement or something.) Seems like they should have had the fire outside, rather than inside; unless they were right next to the house when they struck the line & the gas went into the basement.

If that's the case, then why were residents still in the house? They should have been screaming for everyone to get the hell out. (And, if you hit a gas line, it doesn't just go "boom" - you need to get the air to the right concentration of gas before it ignites; seems it would take at least a few minutes to have enough energy to make that big of a kablooey.
Click to expand...

I work for a NG company, so I speak from experience.

4% - 18% gas to air ratio for NG to burn or "blow up".

Also, there is this thing called migration. There are many instances where lines have been nicked or small punctures happen, even without the contractor knowing about it. Depending on the soil type or rock formations in the soil, gas can migrate for pretty good distances before it escapes the ground. Unfortunately, sometimes this is a basement wall.

Most home explosions are due to migration, whether it be from a line hit or just old and degraded leaking pipe.
 
DrPizza said:
Why'd the house blow up if they hit a gas line with a backhoe? (Unless the backhoe was in the basement or something.) Seems like they should have had the fire outside, rather than inside; unless they were right next to the house when they struck the line & the gas went into the basement.

If that's the case, then why were residents still in the house? They should have been screaming for everyone to get the hell out. (And, if you hit a gas line, it doesn't just go "boom" - you need to get the air to the right concentration of gas before it ignites; seems it would take at least a few minutes to have enough energy to make that big of a kablooey.
Click to expand...

It does seem a little strange.

There was a case near where I live a few years ago, where a gas main developed a leak, and the gas seeped through the sandy soil into a nearby basement and blew a house to kingdom come. The gas company even speculated that by passing through the soil, it filtered out the sulphurous smell (mercaptan) that they add to natural gas, so the homeowner didn't smell it building up over time.
 
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