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"But a leak and a spark can still be really, really ugly."

That occurred to a house in northern virginia. The ground became saturated with natural gas from where a backhoe nicked a line, and over time, the gas finally made its way through a basement sump crock, over to the water heater pilot light. Decimated the one-year old home and killed the family inside. Gas can be dangerous.

When was this?

When I was a kid living there, c. 1970, we had an almost identical case kill 3 people, level two houses instantly, and badly damage a third so badly it had to be leveled, in our subdivision. The site was on my walk path to school.

I was in school when it happened, and heard it. Dad was in a staff position at the Pentagon at the time, in a slot that was manned 24/7, so he was at home sleeping, and mom and the next door neighbor were in the kitchen having coffee. They went outside, and insulation was coming out of the sky like snow.

I have a lot of respect for natural gas.

This was in Annandale, Canterbury Woods subdivision.

45 posted on 07/10/2006 6:36:18 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Guns themselves are fairly robust; their chief enemies are rust and politicians) (NRA)

That occurred to a house in northern virginia. The ground became saturated with natural gas from where a backhoe nicked a line, and over time, the gas finally made its way through a basement sump crock, over to the water heater pilot light. Decimated the one-year old home and killed the family inside.

I remember that. Not too far from where I live. There literally was NOTHING left of the house.

149 posted on 07/10/2006 7:39:08 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Freedom isn't free, but the men and women of the military will pay most of your share)

Behind our family home in PA (back in the 70's), a row of homes were destroyed when one exploded in a gas explosion one night. Our parents grabbed us and ran out the front door, and I remember what looked like fireworks flying over our house. Everyone made it out alive that night except two men - the one who came home and switched on his basement light, and the other who thought one of his kids was still inside and ran back in for the child.

175 posted on 07/10/2006 8:09:41 AM PDT by Tired of Taxes (That's taxes, not Texas. I have no beef with TX. NJ has the highest property taxes in the nation.)

Natural gas is very dangerous when it builds up because it is lighter than air.

Once some people moved out of their house and didn't have a cap for the gas line to their stove so they stuck a potato on the end of the line.

It eventually shrunk and gas filled the house from the top down. When it got to the level of the water heater pilot flame it lifted the roof off of the house with the resulting explosion!

LP gas is heavier than air, and will sink to the ground and then build up instead of down. Still very dangerous though.

Yea, what's the matter with the noses on those people concretebob?