Gas Explosions - Notable Gas Explosions

Notable Gas Explosions

• The New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion, destroying the New London School of the city of New London, Texas. The disaster killed three hundred students and teachers.

• The Cleveland East Ohio Gas Explosion occurred on the afternoon of Friday, October 20, 1944. The resulting gas leak, explosion and fires killed 130 people and destroyed a one square mile area on Cleveland, Ohio’s east side.

• On October 31, 1963, The Indianapolis Coliseum Explosion (now known as the Pepsi Coliseum) occurred during the opening night for the Holiday on Ice show, killing 74 and injuring nearly 400. The cause was an explosion following a propane tank leak.

• LaSalle Heights Disaster March 1, 1965. Gas line fractured in a low-cost residential neighborhood near Montreal, Quebec, killing 28 people and injuring 39.

• The Richmond, Indiana explosion, on Saturday, April 6, 1968. Two explosions occur in mid-afternoon, in the middle of downtown Richmond, Indiana. The first is caused by a natural gas leak, and the second, by gunpowder and ammunition inside a sporting goods store. 41 people are killed and more than 150 injured. Four square blocks of downtown Richmond, Indiana are heavily damaged by the explosion or subsequent fire.

• Ronan Point was a 23-story council tower block in Newham, east London. On 16 May 1968 a gas explosion caused the collapse of a whole corner of the building. Four people were killed in the collapse, with one dying later of injuries.

• Clarkston explosion on 21 October 1971, a build-up of gas under a shopping centre left 22 dead and around 100 injured.

• 23 May 1984 Abbeystead disaster - an explosion resulting in 16 deaths and 22 injured from Methane entering waterwork pipes.

• 24 March 1986 Loscoe gas explosion - no fatalities but extensive property destruction, this caused the UK Government to legislate on landfill sites and building practices with regard to landfill gas migration.

• In July 1988, 167 people died when Occidental Petroleum's Alpha offshore production platform, on the Piper field in the North Sea, exploded after a gas leak.

• The 1989 Ufa train disaster was caused by a gas explosion from a leaking pipeline as two trains went by, their sparks igniting the gas. 575 people died.

• The 1992 explosion in Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city, took place on April 22, 1992 in the downtown district of Analco. Numerous gasoline explosions in the sewer system over four hours destroyed kilometers of streets. Officially, 206 people were killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 were left homeless.

• The Humberto Vidal Explosion (sometimes also referred to as the Río Piedras Explosion) was a gas explosion that occurred on November 21, 1996 on the Humberto Vidal shoe store located in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, United States. The explosion killed 33 and wounded 69 others when the building collapsed. It is considered one of the deadliest disasters to have occurred on the island.

• On December 11, 1998, there was a gas explosion in St. Cloud, Minnesota, which killed four people.

• In December 1999, there was a natural gas explosion which completely destroyed one house and severely damaged 4 other houses in Larkhall, South Lanarkshire, it killed the family of 4 that lived in the house that exploded, Transco Gas who are responsible for maintaining the Gas Network were fined £15 million as the cause was found to be a severely corroded gas main directly outside the house.

• On January 17, 2001, natural gas stored underground in Hutchinson, Kansas leaked into empty brine caverns. Two explosions resulted from the leak. One destroyed two businesses and damaged 26 others. Another destroyed a trailer park killing two people. Sinkholes and gas leaks formed all around the city and the gas had to be slowly burned off.

• Arkhangelsk explosion of 2004: In Arkhangelsk, Russia, on March 16, 2004, a gas explosion in an apartment killed 58 people. Reportedly, a former gas technician caused the explosion due to a dispute with his former employers.

• On May 11, 2004, the Stockline Plastics Factory in the Maryhill area of Glasgow was destroyed by a gas explosion. The cause was found by a Health and Safety Executive report to be the ignition of gas from a ruptured pipe. Nine people were killed and 37 were injured, 15 seriously.

• The 2009 Viareggio train derailment, in Versilia, killed 33 people with the explosion of GPL which was contained in one of the train car.

• August 19, 2000, a natural gas transmission pipeline ruptured and a fire killed 12 campers near Carlsbad, New Mexico.

• September 9, 2010 San Bruno California, suburb of San Francisco, gas leak and explosion, killing 4, burning 53 homes, damage to over 120 homes.

• February 9, 2011 Allentown, Pennsylvania, natural gas explosion Killing 5 People, 2 homes leveled 8 homes in all destroyed, many displaced roughly 60 injured, 10 seriously

• February 5, 2012 Washington State, Josh Powell kills himself and 2 sons in gas explosion at their home.

• August 14, 2012 Brentwood, New York (Suffolk County, New York; Long Island), A suspected gas explosion levels a house, killing a toddler and wounding up to 17 others.

• August 29, 2012 New Milford, Connecticut, An online Associated Press August 29 news article from the Boston Herald stated that, according to the Danbury News-Times, a propane leak explosion killed 1 man (a friend of the family who lived in the home who was a plumber, who had come over to assist), and severely injured the homeowner and the older child of the deceased friend.

• November 10, 2012 Indianapolis, Indiana Investigators now confirm that the intentional release of natural gas into a home in the Richmond Hill neighborhood of southern Indianapolis is the cause of the massive explosion Saturday, November 10, 2012, that killed a couple and injured about 20 people. The blast obliterated two houses, caused $4.4 million in preliminary damage estimates, destroyed five other homes, caused major damage to another 10 houses, caused minor damage to 11 others, and affected 86 other homes across a range of several blocks. It was so large it registered on IUPUI seismic detectors and was felt for miles. However, on Monday, November 19, 2012, Indianapolis and Indiana state homeland security and police officials announced that a white van, of interest to them, had been seen leaving the area and that a $10,000 reward was being offered, in what is now officially a criminal homicide investigation. Officials confirmed natural gas as the cause of the blast on November 20, 2012, and that the first round of severly damaged homes(not including the 4 immediately surounding the blast epicenter) would be demolished during the week of November 26, 2012.

• November 23, 2012 Springfield, Massachusetts- one of New England's busiest cities, a natural gas explosion destroyed two buildings, including one housing a strip club, damaging a total of 42 buildings. Firefighters, police officers and gas company workers were in the area because of an earlier gas leak. The explosion injured a total of 21 people, including 12 of the Firefighters that responded to the gas leak. Astonishingly, it did not kill anyone.