[h=1]Were blast, earlier leaks related?[/h]A gas leak was found in the service line leading to a house that exploded, rocking a North Seattle neighborhood early Monday, according to a utility-company spokeswoman.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016322932_fire27m.html
The couple smelled gas, looked for the problem, but when the flicked on the light switch, the home exploded.
Gas will ignite with a spark.
That's why water heaters in garages are typically placed on stands. If you fill a room with gas though, even that may not be enough. In a different story, a painter cleaning his equipment in a closed garage ignited the vapor in the garage when the outlet sparked while plugging in a power cord, blowing him out of the closed garage door, and covering his body in burns.
In the Seattle house explosion Monday night, Monfried said the leak near the house that exploded was similar to the leaks reported on Sunday. She said the holes in the three-quarter-inch pipes had been caused by "electrical arcing" after a tree fell on a Seattle City Light power line.
"They smelled gas yesterday, and we really wish they had called," she said. "If you ever smell natural gas, call us."
"Renegade current"
Subsits, the chief pipeline-safety engineer for the state Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), explained that electrical arcing could cause a "renegade current" leaking from a power station or other source. Such a current, conducted by the metal natural-gas pipe, could cause corrosion and potentially a pipeline leak as it seeks a "path of least resistance" back to its source, he said.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016322932_fire27m.html
The couple smelled gas, looked for the problem, but when the flicked on the light switch, the home exploded.
Gas will ignite with a spark.
That's why water heaters in garages are typically placed on stands. If you fill a room with gas though, even that may not be enough. In a different story, a painter cleaning his equipment in a closed garage ignited the vapor in the garage when the outlet sparked while plugging in a power cord, blowing him out of the closed garage door, and covering his body in burns.
In the Seattle house explosion Monday night, Monfried said the leak near the house that exploded was similar to the leaks reported on Sunday. She said the holes in the three-quarter-inch pipes had been caused by "electrical arcing" after a tree fell on a Seattle City Light power line.
"They smelled gas yesterday, and we really wish they had called," she said. "If you ever smell natural gas, call us."
"Renegade current"
Subsits, the chief pipeline-safety engineer for the state Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), explained that electrical arcing could cause a "renegade current" leaking from a power station or other source. Such a current, conducted by the metal natural-gas pipe, could cause corrosion and potentially a pipeline leak as it seeks a "path of least resistance" back to its source, he said.
