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Re: Gas leak. Heck, that wasn't Wilton Woods, that was Durham Woods Apartments in Edison, New Jersey, and it was in 1994. I ought to know: It was roughly 1.5 miles away and several hundred feet high, and was seen by truckers as far away as the NJ/Pennsylvania border. The apartment complex was toast, but all the residents escaped alive. Something about Really Big Flames melting the cars in the parking lot can convince people that Here Is Not The Right Place To Be. A couple of broken bones in the scramble to scale fences and the like, but that was it.
It wasn't some little feeder tube, either. A 30" diameter high-pressure line had apparently been nicked by somebody with a backhoe burying a stolen car in an abandoned asphalt production facility some years previous had done the trick, along with corrosion in the line and lackadaisical maintenance by the pipeline owner. Not to mention that it took a few hours to roust up the Texan Eastern types to go and shut the thing down.
Somebody did die, however. The lady lived a mile or so away and happened to have a heart attack. However, the 911 lines were jammed with everybody and his/her brother reporting on something that could probably be seen on the moon, and every cop and paramedic in a 20-mile radius were jammed up on New Durham road trying to do rescue work. Not that there were any (by that time) who needed rescuing. In short, nobody showed up when the lady's husband called 911, and she passed away. Durn.
KAB | | |
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 9143930615,000 Watts of Bass Power
join:2002-10-16
New Milford, CT
1 edit | No, it was 1987, it was Wilton Woods, and I remember it vividly. I was on FIDONet home repair echo, arguing with some people about how dangerous gas is, and the very next day, Wilton Woods blew up, a 36" gas main exploded.
By 1994, I was no longer on FIDOnet and no longer using a 1200 baud modem on a 286, which was the case when I took part in that debate on FIDONet.
Your case is just more fuel to the fire. | |
 SolarPupHardware GodPremium
join:2002-03-07
Greeley, CO | Geez, fidonet, ahhh the memories... | |
Tobi5
join:2006-11-29
Wake Forest, NC | reply to K Becker
Re: Gas leak - Durham Woods Most of your facts are accurate but the line was 36" - not 30". The Texas Eastern crew was not delayed in response. They had to manually turn a large wheel 832 times. The first was only 1 mile away and the pressure in the line was too great so they had to stop - go to the next wheel - 5 miles away - and start over. Much of the damage could have been averted if there was an automatic shut off valve. Not required by law - and expensive - but cheaper than the $25 million in physical damage done at Durham Woods.
The woman who died was 32. She had a genetic heart defect - had just been released from the hospital and went into heart failure when she saw the flames. There were over 40,000 calls to 911 in those first few minutes of the blast.
That explosion was nearly 13 years ago. It changed my life. I was 100 yards from the explosion - sleeping - and was in clear line of the fireball. My bedroom window faced the explosion site - with nothing obstructing it. I awoke to see the fireball igniting and ran for my life less than 5 minutes later. Initially I believed that we were under nuclear attack - I then saw the tires on my car melting and the windshield breathing - and had never heard of a pipeline in my life.
Three weeks later - I found myself on Capital Hill - testifying about what happened in Edison that day. Asking for change and pinching myself that this was how I was spending my 30th birthday.
That day did help to institute the National One-Call Law - or "Call Before You Dig" notice that's in your gas bill each month. | |
9143930615,000 Watts of Bass Power
join:2002-10-16
New Milford, CT
1 edit | Here is video, shot by one of the residents of that complex, on that night.
»video.google.com/videoplay?docid···ural+gas
And look at this: another gas explosion:
»ems.gmnews.com/news/2004/1020/Fr···001.html | |
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