Attica, IN – Attica firefighters got lucky earlier this month when a building exploded from a natural gas leak.
Natural gas had filled two houses on adjacent corners of Perry and New streets, where firefighters had set up to fight the blaze caused by the explosion on the southwest corner the morning of Feb. 11. But unlike the building that exploded, the mixture of gas and oxygen in the two houses was ideal for a devastating explosion, Attica Fire Chief Ed O’Farrell said Tuesday.
“They were right between two bombs on either side of the street,” O’Farrell said. “The right spark at the wrong time could have been devastating. … We could have had firefighters killed.”
Firefighters, however, had no idea of the dangers because their attention was focused on the building that exploded, he said. It wasn’t until they started checking gas levels inside nearby houses that they realized the dangers.
As for the former Families United building that exploded, so much natural gas had leaked into the basement that it lowered the oxygen levels, reducing the ferocity of the explosion, he said.
“We also believe that the explosion was a minor explosion to what it could have been.” O’Farrell said.
“The basement was too much gas, not enough oxygen. The building was not a powerful explosion. The debris did not go into the streets.”
O’Farrell believed the natural gas seeped into the basement of the former Families United building from a leak in a pipe west of the building. Fire investigators told him the hole in the pipe was 6 to 8 inches long and about an eighth of an inch wide.
The gas appliances in the basement did not show any signs of having leaks, O’Farrell said. He suspects the natural gas from the leak west of the old church seeped through the ground and found a way into conduits used for the water lines. From that conduit, it traveled to the Families United site, as well as several houses in the area.
But that information came from fire investigators, not Vectren Engery, whose investigators and personnel have not communicated with him or any other emergency personnel who responded to the blast, O’Farrell said. It’s a sore point for O’Farrell, who said the one-sided communication blackout started the day of the explosion.
The leak might have been caused by the freezing and thawing of the ground in extreme winter temperatures, but that isn’t confirmed.
Chase Kelley, a spokeswoman for Vectren, told the Journal & Courier that the state fire marshal had taken over the investigation.
“We are working with the state office as directed,” Kelley said Tuesday.
Vectren has been helpful in covering residents’ damages, O’Farrell said. Some houses have had windows and doors open in subzero weather to allow the gas inside to vent. Consequently, some pipes froze, and some furnaces, which were shut off, were damaged beyond repair.
Vectren hosted a Tuesday night session to train firefighters about the dangers of a natural gas leak and what to look for.
“We routinely get these things and don’t talk about the risks,” O’Farrell said. “I felt it was important to give these guys as much information to gauge these things.”