Evansville, Indiana homes

[Airehead]

I never worry about my house blowing up. I suspect the 39 families whose houses were damaged or destroyed did not either.  Three dead. 

[bikeman564™]

what happened

[donkpow]

[Kirby]

[Airehead]

Seems tragic. 

[Wilbur ★]

That there is a gas explosion.   

[shootingstar]

Really..there should be a major investigation. 

[Longjohn ★]

I used to drive by a big three story brick house every day that had been empty and for sale for a long time. The one day I drove by and it was gone. More gone than that house. A lot of broken windows in the neighborhood but no serious injuries. Hard to investigate when there is nothing left.

[Chris...]

My daughter lives in Evansville. She heard the explosion 

[Parr8hed]

I have not heard this.  We are about an hour and a half from there.  We used to play softball there a lot. 

 

[jsharr ★]

There is video of the explosion.  Horrible tragedy

[Razors Edge ★]

6 minutes ago, jsharr said:

 Horrible tragedy

This.

Don't we have one of these every few years? Feel like there was one in Boston a few years ago, and one in MD? Just playing the odds, and it's going to happen, I guess

[jsharr ★]

55 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

This.

Don't we have one of these every few years? Feel like there was one in Boston a few years ago, and one in MD? Just playing the odds, and it's going to happen, I guess

Yep.  buried gas lines.  Drought and then rain.  soil shifts, pipes break, things blow up.  We have had quite a few in Dallas and the gas supplier is replacing thousands of miles of old piping.  As I recall, there was a type of pipe used in the 60s and 70s that is really startting to fail.  

[MickinMD ★]

14 hours ago, Longjohn said:

I used to drive by a big three story brick house every day that had been empty and for sale for a long time. The one day I drove by and it was gone. More gone than that house. A lot of broken windows in the neighborhood but no serious injuries. Hard to investigate when there is nothing left.

There was a vacant house 3 doors away and across the street from me, alongside a park.  One day I went for a walk in the park and water was pouring from below the closed front door.  Apparently a broken water line.

I phoned the county to report it and it had been turned off an hour later as I walked back home.  I wondered what might happen if a gas line broke.  Fortunately, the house is repaired and inhabited now.

[Razors Edge ★]

9 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

I wondered what might happen if a gas line broke. 

A break is probably better than a slow leak.  A break might trigger the EFV (below) but a slow leak in an abandoned home wouldn't. Yikes.

Excess flow valves

An excess flow valve (EFV) is a safety device designed to automatically stop the flow of natural gas through the service line if it exceeds a predetermined rate. When activated, an EFV may prevent the buildup of natural gas and lessen the potential for property damage and/or injury. It should be noted that these devices generally do not protect against slow leaks, such as those caused by corrosion or loose fittings, or leaks located along customer-owned piping beyond the natural gas meter.

[Longjohn ★]

1 hour ago, MickinMD said:

There was a vacant house 3 doors away and across the street from me, alongside a park.  One day I went for a walk in the park and water was pouring from below the closed front door.  Apparently a broken water line.

I phoned the county to report it and it had been turned off an hour later as I walked back home.  I wondered what might happen if a gas line broke.  Fortunately, the house is repaired and inhabited now.

That house might have been a victim of “The Wet Bandits”, didn’t you ever watch Home Alone?