Huge explosion destroys house in Columbus, Ohio

Brenda Jackson and Chris Russell
The Columbus Dispatch
Fri, 25 Mar 2016 22:52 UTC

A South Side house that reportedly had been sold this week was leveled Friday evening in an explosion that fire officials say might have been a natural-gas leak.

Officials with Columbia Gas, however, say the lines outside the home have been inspected and are safe.

The explosion of the one-story brick home at South Champion Avenue and Stockbridge Road occurred at 6:08 p.m., said Battalion Chief Steve Martin, a spokesman for the Fire Division. No one was in the home at the time, and no one was injured.

However, the blast destroyed the house, at 870 Stockbridge, and damage to a few nearby houses included blown-out windows.

"In my 30 years, I haven't seen an explosion like this," said Fire Battalion Chief Tom DeLong, who was at the scene.

Although a blaze immediately engulfed the structure, fire crews had it out within an hour or so.

DeLong said new owners had just closed this week on the sale of the house but hadn't moved in. He didn't have their names. DeLong said it looked like the explosion was caused by a gas leak.

A news release from Columbia Gas of Ohio, however, said that a "thorough inspection of our natural gas main lines and service lines in the area" confirmed them to be safe. Shana Eiselstein, a spokeswoman for Columbia Gas, says that means all lines outside the home leading to the meter were determined to be OK. Anything inside the home, she said, is the responsibility of the homeowner. Fire investigators are expected to be working at the house through the weekend to determine a cause.

This explosion comes a year to the week that a gas explosion at an Upper Arlington home reduced that house to rubble and damaged another 30 houses in the same neighborhood, making eight of the homes uninhabitable.

In that case, Columbia Gas eventually was fined $400,000 for not properly capping and marking a gas valve box at the house, and not disconnecting a line that should have been shut off. The fine eventually was cut in half after Columbia Gas proposed a new safety program.

Comment: Last month massive explosions completely leveled a house and buildings in Seattle, Washington. In Yorkshire, UK a man died after another huge house explosion there.

There seems to have been an increase in the number of massive house explosions around the world in recent times, with investigators still attempting to determine the cause in many cases. Could a 'cosmic' source of ignition be responsible for some of these incidents?

Reader Comments

another1 · 2016-03-26T13:19:19Z

Sometimes old gas lines are just old gas lines (nepharious "cosmic forces" aren't responsible for every tragedy on Earth). There are more incidences like this throughout cities with centuries old infrastructure than are reported on a regular basis. The lines to the house might have been updated at some point, but most structures which have access to gas never even bother to have their interior lines inspected. Does anyone remember the multistory building in Manhattan which collapsed in an explosion due to faulty gas lines? This was one of many incidences like this on the island in 2015, but this one was reported on because some very wealthy guy lived in part of this building. This is also happening about Chicago with regularity as time takes its toll on older structures. What scares me is that many early multi-story buildings (early 20th C style high rises) all have gas lines in them and many of these have not taken necessary precautions to prevent the building going up in a gas explosion. Think how devastating a gas explosion of a 15-20 story 100 year old building could be in densely populated area. The surrounding buildings would be profoundly damaged and there would most likely be a huge loss of life. I know in Chicago a number of groups constantly pushes that the older buildings be forced under law to retrofit the "multi-unit" elderly highrises so as to "cap off" gas access to same. Unfortunately, nothing has been done (all sorts of "rights" and "property" arguments). Even scarier is the situation with underground gas transmission in older cities like Chicago and NY. If terrorists really wanted to get creative, all they would have to do is set off the transmission lines under the main city centers and you'd find a good deal of the cities obliterated to dust in short order.

Gas is great in single family homes or smaller multi-family dwellings. In a densely populated area like a city, it needs to be banned in lieu of alternate fuel sources to avoid the "ticking time bomb" inherent in neglectful property and infrastructure maintenance.

nedlud · 2016-03-26T15:03:04Z

all we are is dust in the wind

@another1:

That's a good comment by you.

Sott gets to be a little too cosmic (not comically too cosmic, but sort of cosmetically too cosmic) at times.

Being too cosmic (even to the point of being charlatanly so) is better than being too political (which is, to say the least, a total charlatan show).

Although they sometimes err a bit in that sense too. Think: Vladimir Putin, eg.

Still, Sott is better than most sites that attempt to report and that also claim to 'allow' comment on the news of the world. I think it is because so many of them smoke. The other reason might be because people like you and me are here.

ned, out

Speedz · 2016-03-26T18:52:34Z

Another theory

Would be interesting to see if they made sure they had insurance on it.
Then investigate other options after finding the source of the fire.

How would this new home owner benefit from an insurance payout on a home that has no emotional attachment or lived in investment?
How one could drop the thermostat to the lowest setting possible but have it still ignite.
Pop open a line union somewhere, say the water heater. Then wait....

But not everything is a planned scam, it could just be old lines/seals.