Massachusetts suspected gas explosions damage or destroy at least 20 homes

Massachusetts authorities were responding to "suspected gas explosions" in several communities outside of Boston Thursday evening that have left residents unable to "see the sky."

State Police tweeted that troopers are on scene at "17 separate addresses for fire, explosion, or investigation" in the towns of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover.

Methuen Police Chief Joseph Solomon said that in Lawrence alone, there are roughly 20 to 25 homes on fire. He said there are so many fires "you can't even see the sky."

The North Andover Police Department advised to residents with gas service in their homes or businesses, "please exit the building until further notice."


Some residents are being evacuated from their homes to senior centers and middle schools as officials investigate the situation, police said. It was not immediately clear whether anyone sustained injuries.

This is a developing story; please check back for updates. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Gas

Listening to it on scanner, sounds real bad. Currently tripping over themselves at the moment,sounds very hectic obviously.
Currently trying to evacuate a nursing home with a gas leak. Just terrible

a reply to: Sabrechucker

How is this even possible all at once ?

Is this sabotage or a chain reaction?
Ageing infrastructure?

Wow, they just mentioned that the mayor said all citizens to evacuate and head north pass the river.

a reply to: Gargoyle91

In older cities, some gas lines will connect several blocks with no shutoff valve. once fire is in the line....

a reply to: dashen

Spreads through the pipes apparently , they need to shut valves asap

My scanner app just blew up and listening to the scanner resources sound stretched.
I've never heard anything like this type of situation.

Wow, i didn't know this was possible either. Over pressurized gas main is the cause from what i've seen.

Seeing pics of people standing outside their houses...they need to gtfo...houses exploding all over that town.

Gas leaks in the air too, and evacuations of 3 towns are ongoing.

What a mess if it's the actual line.

At 50 homes according to the live feed.

Link for scanner

www.broadcastify.com...

Sounds like a war zone.

NVM....... This is crazy...if I heard right just now it affects multiple communities that need to evacuate ?

originally posted by: MetalThunder
NVM....... This is crazy...if I heard right just now it affects multiple communities that need to evacuate ?

That's what I said,

How does this happen?

www.pscp.tv...

The lack of containment even at a few block radius is unlikely. Unless everything failed at once. Accessible valves are shutdown, that would be the very first thing done. either a complete infrastructure failure all at once, or something assisted.

I just heard that earlier today they anouced that they would be upgrading the gas lines all over the county now that would be strange if true and before this happened .

SCADA infrastructure hacked is my bet.....malicious destruction of property.

Posted in the now closed thread, so reposting here:

I am very close to this incident. In fact a few of my friends live in the affected area and have been evacuated for safety. I have been speaking with a local volunteer firefighter friend some of the night....as he listens to his radio awaiting being called in.

Our best guess is that due to the aging infrastructure, a gas main faulted in a weak area, and somehow ignited causing the explosion in the main. This caused a back pressure causing the failure of the pressure regulators in the system, forcing high pressure gas down the line to homes. That kind of high pressure would cause further leakages in weakened low pressure pipes (which would explain the randomness of homes exploding or on fire).


UPDATE: Local news reporting one fatality now and 13 patients treated in total. One of those 13 has been flown to Boston General for emergency care.

They now have fire in Manholes.

www.pscp.tv...

All those poor people losing their homes. My heart goes out to them. Any lives lost? I will be keeping a close eye on this thread.

This is the information I have. 1 Dead.

www.boston25news.com...

Someone else may know more.

When I was listening to the live broadcast from Fire and police, it sounded like they said something about a Father and two young kids. But I can not confirm that.