Thread: Gas explosion levels house in Knoxville

A house blew up yesterday in Knoxville from what they guess was a gas leak. I have tried to attach a link to the local newspaper, but you can probably Google Gas explosion in Knoxville and get the same thing.
Blast rips W. Knox home; son’s remains in rubble?» Knoxville News Sentinel

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Originally Posted by Jack Feldmann

A house blew up yesterday in Knoxville from what they guess was a gas leak. I have tried to attach a link to the local newspaper, but you can probably Google Gas explosion in Knoxville and get the same thing.
Blast rips W. Knox home; son’s remains in rubble?» Knoxville News Sentinel

JF: A travesty! The moronic arguments on another thread regarding the wisdom of redundant use of gas detectors and soap solutions for gas leak detection pale into oblivion . . .

".... an odor that could have been coming from a gas fireplace that had been leaking for weeks...According to the Stephensons, the Krzeskis had expressed concerns for weeks about a leaking gas fireplace in their home.“They just had their fireplace serviced this week because they could smell gas,” Steve Stephenson said."

What is interesting is the utility company KUB says they had not received any calls from this house about a gas leak. Apparently they record all calls, and I do know that when I have called them about gas odors, they have come out right away.

This was a 7000 SF house, so it must have been a huge gas leak. The view from the air in today's paper shows the debris field.

Not sure I would want to be the guy that serviced the fireplace.

It is very sad and tragic that they lost their son, and after looking at the photos it is amazing that they survived.

I browsed the posts and thought this comment was worth reposting here.
buzz4t writes:

I worked several years for the local gas company where I live. The article says they smelled gas from the fireplace and had someone come it and look at it. Gas ignites somewhere between 8-15% if I remember correctly after all these years. To blow up that house, it probably was leaking underground and following the service line to the house, and when the right percentage hit a ignition source, like the water heater, then the blast can be tremendous. Whoever was there to fix it didn't do a very good job of investigating the leak.

Originally Posted by John Kogel

I browsed the posts and thought this comment was worth reposting here.
buzz4t writes:

I worked several years for the local gas company where I live. The article says they smelled gas from the fireplace and had someone come it and look at it. Gas ignites somewhere between 8-15% if I remember correctly after all these years. To blow up that house, it probably was leaking underground and following the service line to the house, and when the right percentage hit a ignition source, like the water heater, then the blast can be tremendous. Whoever was there to fix it didn't do a very good job of investigating the leak.

That was the cause of a deadly explosion about a year ago at a restaurant in Pueblo.

Rising from the ashes

. . .

The mechanics of what happened at the Branch Inn on that tragic afternoon are known.

A little after 2 p.m. on that sunny Thursday, an explosion in the basement of the Branch Inn shattered the building and caved in the adjoining boutique. Windows in nearby buildings were blown out, and cars damaged. Emergency workers found injured people in the street and in the rubble of both buildings, as well as Ashley Johnson's body.

The next day, investigators from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with Pueblo police, firefighters and investigators from Xcel began a four-day process of methodically taking apart the collapsed buildings, looking for the source of the explosion. Interviews with the restaurant owners, employees and other witnesses revealed the building had been plagued with a stinking smell for weeks.

As part of the emergency response on that Thursday, Pueblo firefighters and an Xcel crew detected a gas leak along the line under C Street and shut it down. On Sunday, Nov. 16, that line was methodically excavated and investigators found that a gas line running to the Seabel's building just across C Street had separated at a compression fitting, creating a leak. The line had apparently been bowed with tension, causing the fitting to separate. From there, the leaking gas had migrated through the dirt and along other channels, such as old utility lines, to the basement of the Branch Inn where the gas collected, awaiting a spark.

. . .

And a couple of years ago near me:

State absolves Atmos in Wylie gas blast that killed elderly couple | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News

Explosive limits are about 4%LEL to about 15% UEL.Sometimes percent of gas exceeds upper explosive limit & incident occurs when building is ventilated thereby coming back down into the range of the explosive limits.Always unfortuante when an incident occurs after service has been performed.There are many unqualified/inexperienced people in the gas business.

....got up to investigate.

Probably flipped a light switch in the wee hours of the morning.

Rule no. 1, evacuate. Don't use phone, flip light switch, etc.

Unfortunate story. Strange waited for weeks to address.

Older shut off valves will often start leaking copious amounts of gas after having been operated for the first time in years. Work done might have done right, but aggrivated a developing problem upstream.

Todays paper said the previous owner had no problems. These people bought it in Sept 08 and had it inspected, again no problems.

They did not name the company that serviced it this week, but Im guessing, they are so screwed.
These houses are not that old (less than 10 years), but very large. This had a basement and 2 floors above.
I'm not sure they will be able to tell much from what is left of the house. The two adjoining houses were also heavily damaged. Structural engineers will be checking them out. I guess one was rocked off the foundation.

Update!
Today's paper said the two adjacent homes have major structural damage and are not occupied. There are also two other homes that had significant damage (one is probably directly across the street where the front door took out their garage door).