[FreedomPoster]

My neighborhood at the time was a DC suburb, Annandale.

There was some public works digging going on (maybe some storm sewer work, I don’t remember exactly), and they damaged a gas main in the street, and that damage went undetected. The leaking gas seeped into the basements of the two houses that were leveled, was most likely ignited by a furnace pilot light.

[cva66snipe]

That would do it. In the Appalachian region it's fairly easy for a major leak to go undetected. I've heard of them being cut by cable TV companies using a ditch witch. If the operator knows they hit the best thing to do is leave the machine on and run then run faster. I've found gas lines put in some very bad places before just to save digging another trench.