Leaking natural gas ignites
MASSACHUSETTS — A 30-year-old utility employee was injured when natural gas drawn into the intake of a heating unit ignited as he changed a gas meter on the exterior of a wood-frame residential condominium building.
The exterior of the three-story, seven-unit building, which was 150 feet (46 meters) long and 30 feet (9 meters) wide, was sided with wood, and its roof was covered by asphalt shingles. A wet-pipe sprinkler system had been installed throughout, and local smoke alarms were located in each unit.
Investigators determined that the worker had begun changing the meter without shutting off the gas supply, causing the gas to leak. Once the fuel entered the heating unit intake, it ignited, and flames spread along the exterior into the soffit and the building. After fire spread inside, an unknown number of sprinklers helped confine the fire to the building, but firefighters could not extinguish the blaze until the utility company shut off the gas line feeding the structure.
Damage to the property was estimated at $975,000.