N. Seattle home explodes; 2 hurt

[icymist]

Source: Seattle P-I

A man and woman were injured when an explosion and fire destroyed a house early Monday in North Seattle.

There was a natural gas leak in the neighborhood on Sunday, though that leak has not be blamed for the explosion.

Still, authorities evacuated 20 to 25 homes in the neighborhood on Monday, and crews were rushing to cap a natural gas feeder line in the neighborhood

The explosion was heard more than a mile away and some people who lived nearby said the blast broke windows in their home.





Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/komo/article/N-Seattle-home-explodes-2-hurt-2189071.php

[ensho]

1. kick

nt

[MADem]

2. Leak has not been blamed? Think they need to add...YET? nt

[gateley]

3. They said the flames could be seen from I-5. nt

[MinneapolisMatt]

4. Wow, they are lucky to be alive.

And really, as if it's NOT the gas?!?!

[valerief]

5. Not the leak? What was it then--the "ubiquitous" terrorists? nt

[bemildred]

6. Maybe cooking up some meth? nt

[valerief]

7. Yeah, could be that, I guess. nt

[jwirr]

8. I was driving past a home when it exploded from a natural gas leak.

The roof of the house lifted off and then settled back down as the house broke into flames. My car shook. Only the person who was thrown out of a window by the explosion survived. Instant flames engulfed the house.

[nolabear]

9. I once got blown out of bed by a house blowing up down the hill from ours.

It was an unusual hot spell and the family was on vacation, having left the teenaged boyfriend of the daughter to varnish the new deck. He sealed all the rags in a paint can and put it on the garage floor beneath the gas tank of his dad's prize magnesium bodied sports car.

It was a-mazing. We ran down the hill to find the kid standing there with "I am so screwed" written all over his face.

I'm in Seattle btw and no word yet on why this explosion but on the news it looked like nothing but burning rubble. Can't imagine how they survived.

[Posteritatis]

14. Aiee! (nt)

[DesertFlower]

10. i hate gas. our house is all electric.

gas is not available in this area. however some of our neighbors have installed propane tanks for cooking.

[slackmaster]

12. The first time I met people who felt that way about it was in rural South Carolina

But your view is represented in a lot of places.

I've lived with piped-in gas all of my life. It's such a convenience and so economical compared to electricity around here, I think that not having it would be a real hassle.

Electricity can burn your house down and kill you by electrocution. Any system that delivers enough energy to heat your house is going to present some risk.

[DesertFlower]

13. when we first moved to phoenix all the

new houses were electric, but people coming from other states wanted gas. now you can't find an all electric house unless you have it custom built.

[slackmaster]

15. A cousin of mine had a new house built in a neighborhood of Phoenix that was locally known as...

...Snob Hill.

This was back in the 1970s. The house was all-electric and well stocked with amenities like wiring for stereo speakers everywhere. The swimming pool had a very modern self-cleaning system.

Thanks for jogging my memory.

[DesertFlower]

16. not familiar with Snob Hill, but i've

heard scottsdale referred to as "snottsdale". we moved here in '89. the house was a new build semi-custom. in '02 we built a custom house outside side of phoenix in the county. had to drill a well and put in a septic system. beautiful area. quiet -- surrounded by mountains. love it here but hate the politics.

[Bosonic]

11. House has become a unique fixer-upper

[icymist]

17. (Update) Can dangerous gas leaks be stopped?

Seattle has joined a list of more than a half dozen cities around the country that have suffered terrifying natural gas explosions in the last two years – the worst rash in a decade, according to federal records.

The failure of a gas utility to prevent an explosion at a house in North Seattle on Monday, despite warnings there were multiple leaks in the area, will likely focus attention on a crucial question: Can small gas leaks be detected automatically and stopped before they kill a gas customer and demolish a house?

Puget Sound Energy's Martha Monfried said the "system worked" when her gas company responded to an emergency Sunday afternoon. Two residents in a north Seattle neighborhood called the company when they smelled gas.

But at nightfall on Sunday, crews from the utility stopped knocking on doors to ask other residents if they smelled gas.



Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Can-dangerous-gas-leaks-be-stopped-2193197.php#ixzz1ZHBvsjzM

[icymist]

18. Yeah, the system worked!

Still, there are eight gas-leak areas in this neighborhood I saw that are of interest in todays news!