Gas-related explosions and fire

[c.a.]

Baltimore gas explosion levels homes; 1 woman killed, 6 injured

Baltimore firefighters were searching Monday through the rubble for victims of a gas explosion that destroyed three rowhouses, killed a woman and seriously injured two other people.

www.foxnews.com

A major explosion in Baltimore has left adults and children trapped, according to reports.

Fox Baltimore reports that medical units have been called to the scene and Baltimore County firefighters have been called to help.

“Several houses exploded. At least 5 people trapped, some children. A Collapse Respose and Second Alarm has been called,” tweeted Baltimore Firefighters IAFF Local 734. The tweet was retweeted by the Baltimore Office of Emergency Management.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1292834526553681921

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1292826129104068616

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1292834280557752320

Russia explosion: At least 13 injured after huge ball of fire rips ...

A MASSIVE explosion has ripped through a city in southwest Russia, leaving at least 13 injured.

www.express.co.uk

The large explosion took place at a petrol station.

Video footage of the explosion shows a large ball of fire was sent flying up into the sky.

The terrifying huge flames could be seen from a distance following by thick, black smoke.

Accoridng to reports, at least 13 people have been injured in the incident.

It was first reported only four to six people were caught in the initial blast but rescuers were also injured due to several small explosions.
All were taken to the hospital and the fire has also been controlled.

The cause of the blast is not clear yet, but it has been reported that the explosion occurred in the fuel tank.

 

[c.a.]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1298994871441604613

Chlorine plant fire has residents sheltering after hurricane
August 27, 2020 9:51 AM
LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — A fire at a Louisiana chlorine plant erupted with thick, billowing smoke Thursday after Hurricane Laura plowed through part of the country’s petrochemical corridor with storm surges and fierce wind, forcing residents around the plant to shelter in their homes.

The damage came three years to the month after the record rains of Hurricane Harvey inundated Houston’s refineries, storage tanks and chemical plants, unleashing dozens of toxic spills into surrounding communities’ air, land and water. State and federal aircraft were heading into the air over the battered Louisiana coast Thursday, looking for signs of any other industrial damage or releases from Laura.

In the Lake Charles area, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality workers with hand-held monitors did not immediately detect chlorine releases from the fire at the BioLab plant, agency spokesman Greg Langley said. The plant makes swimming pool chemicals.

BioLab’s corporate parent said the plant had been shut down and evacuated ahead of the storm, and no plant employees were injured.

Authorities ordered people around the plant in the heavily industrialized Lake Charles area to stay in their homes, with doors and windows shut, when the blaze was discovered after first light after the storm. The state Department of Transportation closed Interstate 10 in the area, diverting traffic.

State police spokesman Nick Manale said hurricane winds of well over 100 mph (160 km/h) appeared to be a factor, although the cause remained under investigation. State police knew of no reports of injuries, including exposure to hazardous fumes.

The fire sent black smoke billowing high above an interstate overpass, dominating the skyline of the damaged city. Crews battled the still-smoldering fire into early evening. Downed trees, utility lines and other wreckage initially made reaching the fire difficult.

State police, firefighters and other emergency workers responded, and an Environmental Protection Agency plane was monitoring overhead, Langley said.

Lynn Goldman, dean of the School of Public Health at George Washington University and a former assistant administrator for toxics at the EPA, called chlorine “dangerous stuff.”

Chlorine is quite damaging to the lungs and “you certainly don’t want to inhale that,” Goldman said.

Anne Rolfes in New Orleans, founder of an environmental group called The Bucket Brigades, said Louisiana requires comparatively little in terms of storm preparation, despite the state’s status as a top five oil and gas producer, and despite the frequent storms that lash the coast.

“In general, these facilities have a long history of not preparing. They cry ‘act of God’ but it’s failure to prepare time and again,” she said.

State environmental officials planned to survey the entire storm area from the air to look for signs of any other industry fires or leaks, Langley said.

“We’ll be doing flyovers, looking for sheen on the water, any little thing we can see — orphan drums, things like that,” Langley said.

Refineries and petrochemical plants also had crews headed out to check for damage, said Jeff Gunnulfsen, senior director of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers trade group.

Reports of leaks or other industrial problems can take days to emerge after severe weather, because many plants have evacuated and locked down their facilities, and roads and phone lines are iffy.

EPA spokeswoman Molly Block said the agency had been working with other governments and contractors before the storm hit to assess the storm security of 23 Superfund sites in Louisiana and 35 in Texas.

 

[Chad]

Pretty large explosion just now in Madrid. It's unclear what caused it but there is a comment that it may be related to a gas issue. Videos from twitter inserted into the article below:

A large explosion has been reported in Spain's capital today.
Video footage appears to show debris blown across a street with thick smoke filling the skyline.

Following the explosion, emergency services have informed the public to avoid the Puerto de Toledo in the centre of the city.
Madrid explosion: Blast destroys building and sends smoke into air above Spanish capital

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1351896686772314112

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1351895064495218691

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1351894186761576449

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1351891907505516544

They said: "Ongoing incident in the area of Puerto de Toledo.

"Please avoid the area and clear the way to emergency resources."

As of yet, there have been no reports of injuries following the explosion.

On Twitter used said: "There has just been a terrible explosion on Calle Toledo."

A large explosion has been reported in Madrid in Spain. (Image: twitter)


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Madrid explosion: There have been no reports of injuries as of yet (Image: Twitter )

In images and videos on social media, the street in question was covered in rubble with what appeared to be several floors of the building destroyed.

There have been unconfirmed reports that the explosion was caused by a gas leak on Calle de Toledo.

Emergency services have descended on the scene in Madrid this afternoon to deal with the blast.

The police are now on the scene, they said: "There has been a big explosion in a building on Toledo street in Madrid.

Madrid explosion: The police have now arrived at the scene (Image: REUTERS/Susana Vera)

"There are already agents working in the area."

Madrid explosion: The blast occured on Calle de Toledo (Image: REUTERS/Susana Vera)

Madrid explosion: The blast occurred in the centre in the city (Image: REUTERS/Susana Vera)

 

[miguel angel]

Pretty large explosion just now in Madrid. It's unclear what caused it but there is a comment that it may be related to a gas issue. Videos from twitter inserted into the article below:

Cited by MSM "El País":

"[Police sources indicate that the incident occurred while gas workers were checking the facility at the back of the building. [...] Neighbors claim they had smelled gas in the area in the hours before the explosion.]"

 

[Palinurus]

According to Dutch media there are at least three dead and six wounded. From NOS-Teletekst:

In het centrum van Madrid zijn bij
een krachtige explosie zeker drie doden
en zes gewonden gevallen.Het huis,dat
grotendeels werd verwoest,is van de
katholieke kerk.Er woonden priesters.

Het pand staat naast een school en een
verpleeghuis.De bewoners daarvan zijn
naar een nabijgelegen hotel gebracht.
De school was nog dicht vanwege de
recente zware sneeuwval in Madrid.

Volgens de burgemeester lijkt er sprake
te zijn geweest van een gasexplosie.
De straten in de wijk La Latina liggen
bezaaid met puin.Reddingswerkers zijn
tussen de brokstukken op zoek naar
overlevenden.

In the center of Madrid, at least three people were killed and six wounded by a powerful explosion. The house, which was largely destroyed, belongs to the Catholic Church. Priests lived there.

The building stands next to a school and a nursing home. The residents were taken to a nearby hotel. The school was still closed because of the recent heavy snowfall in Madrid.

According to the mayor, there seems to have been a gas explosion. The streets in the La Latina neighborhood are littered with debris. Rescuers are searching through the debris for survivors.


Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 

[c.a.]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1353758734166626305

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1353638099905994752

 

[c.a.]

Some confusing interpretations on this one. Looking at the direction of the blast pattern. Cover-up!

Plano house explosion that left 6 injured likely caused by gas leak, investigators say

There were multiple injuries after a reported explosion at a west Plano home on Monday afternoon destroyed the residence and damaged nearby homes.

www.fox4news.com

PLANO, Texas - An explosion that left six people hurt in a Plano neighborhood was likely caused by a gas leak.

On Tuesday morning, investigators with Plano Fire-Rescue returned to the site of the blast in the 4400 block of Cleveland Drive, located off Park Boulevard between Ohio Drive and Coit Road.

They determined the probable cause of Monday afternoon’s explosion was an isolated gas leak inside the home.

The force of the blast left the home in a flattened pile of wood and debris. The two houses on either side also have major damage and are uninhabitable.

The explosion was recorded by a doorbell security camera on a house across the street.

One person was inside the home and had to be pulled from the rubble and taken to the hospital.

Five other people including three children were also hurt. They were all in a house next door.

Police have not given an update on their conditions but a neighbor told FOX 4 she saw the kids walking unassisted and climbing into an ambulance.

Neighbors also said the blast happened during a thunderstorm. They saw a flash and heard a loud-shaking boom.

"I just happened to be looking out my window right as it happened and it was a big flash of bright light," said Taylor Reddick, who lives nearby. "It had been lightninging a lot already, and I just saw a huge black smoke go up and debris go flying in the air. It all happened very fast."

The impact of the explosion was felt by people living a mile away. Many who walked to the scene were in disbelief.

Neighbors said they can only imagine what it was like for the one person inside the home at the center of the explosion.

"It felt like a bomb going off. The whole house rumbled. Some of our ceiling kind of rattled and what not and there was dust and everything that kind of fell. It was pretty serious," Reddick said.

"We felt a huge just rumbling in the house and we thought it was just the storm going over us," added Holly Cortez, who lives nearby. "You know, just praying for everyone involved. It’s very scary."

Investigators from Plano Fire-Rescue, Atmos, Oncor and the Plano Police Bomb Squad all came out to the scene. They found no evidence of hazardous materials or foul play.

They will continue investigating to determine if the storm played any role in the explosion and where the gas leak was located within the home.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1417244329203142657

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1417271474147168256

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1417257436512198656

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1417260173014491136

 

[c.a.]

Deadly house explosion in Lackawanna (Script)

Jul 21, 2021 WKBW TV | Buffalo, NY

 

[maxwell1110]

Missed this one from earlier in the week. This time off the southern Gulf of Mexico on 8/23:

PEMEX Platform Fire Hammers Mexico’s Oil Production​

PEMEX Platform Fire Hammers Mexico's Oil Production

MEXICO CITY, Aug 23 (Reuters) – Five workers were killed and six injured in Sunday’s fire on an offshore platform in the southern Gulf of Mexico operated by Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) that...

gcaptain.com

The fire broke out as crews were performing maintenance on the platform, and a search for missing workers continues, Pemex Chief Executive Octavio Romero told a news conference.

The platform remains out of operation, with about 421,000 barrels per day of oil lost and 125 wells offline, he said. The loss of output was slightly less than Reuters reported earlier on Monday, citing a company document.

The heavily indebted Pemex has long had a checkered record on security, and dozens of people have been killed in major accidents in the past. Still, the platform fire was one of the worst Pemex has suffered under the current government.

“There is not a problem of lack of investment, there is not a problem of lack of resources,” Romero said. “The oil industry is a risky industry. We have had accidents, which in numbers are less than in previous years.”

A fire at another Pemex platform in the Bay of Campeche caused by an underwater gas pipeline leak was dubbed an “eye of fire” on social media due to the July blaze’s circular shape. It took more than five hours to extinguish.

For the previous fire in July, I wondered what “Campeche” translated to. Here’s from Wikipedia:

The name of Campeche is derived from the Maya name of a settlement called “Ah-Kin-Pech” where the city of Campeche is now. When the Spanish first arrived to the area in 1517, they called it Lazaro, since "the day of our landing was St. Lazarus' Sunday". The native name means “place of snakes and ticks.”

Just noting a bit of symbolism here 🧐

 

[c.a.]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1435489821447831552

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1435486165990264834

 

[Aeneas]

A massive gas explosion in China.

At least 3 killed, 30+ injured after massive gas explosion erupts in northern China (VIDEOS)

A powerful gas explosion tore through a street in the Chinese city of Shenyang, reducing nearby buildings to rubble and injuring dozens. At least 3 people were killed in the blast.

www.rt.com

A powerful gas explosion tore through a street in the Chinese city of Shenyang, reducing nearby buildings to rubble and injuring dozens. At least 3 people were killed in the blast.
The massive blast erupted around 8:30am local time on Thursday, state media reported, noting that it’s not clear what triggered the explosion so far. More than 30 people were wounded, and have all been taken to the hospital.
Footage on social media shows the moment of the explosion, which sent enormous plumes of dust into the sky, while other visuals show the aftermath of the blast.

[...]

The explosion originated at a barbeque restaurant on a busy street of Shenyang city, according to local reports cited by Reuters, which also noted that nothing remains of the establishment beyond “exposed structural beams.” More than 100 first responders were sent to the scene, officials said.

 

[c.a.]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1452972436782260228

25 Oct, 2021 15:07 / Updated 21 hours ago
A large explosion has ripped through a residential building in the Russian city of Naberezhnye Chelny, sending emergency services scrambling to respond, with videos showing the resulting devastation posted by locals at the scene.

Reports of the blast began circulating on Monday afternoon. Several apartments across the top two floors of the five-story building appear to have been damaged, but officials have not yet released any news as to whether residents were injured. Naberezhnye Chelny is the second-largest city in the region of Tatarstan, in central Russia.

Just last month, a blast rocked the city of Noginsk, just outside Moscow, leaving two people dead and several more, including children, buried under the rubble. The explosion, which caved in at least three floors of the apartment complex, was traced to a gas leak.

 

[c.a.]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1454874459286953984

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1454844804932808706

(VIDEOS) Leave a #muerto and seven wounded #explosión from #ducto gas in Puebla https://quintopoderqrp.com/2021/10/31/vid

 

[michaelrc]

What's happening in China?

 

[Mari]

Sicily: 3 dead, several missing after buildings collapse – DW – 12/12/2021

A gas explosion triggered the collapse of a number of buildings in Sicily. Emergency workers have been searching the rubble of those missing, including two children and a pregnant woman.

www.dw.com

Italy: One dead, several missing after buildings collapse in Sicily​

A gas explosion triggered the collapse of a number of buildings in Sicily. Emergency workers have been searching the rubble of those missing, including two children and a pregnant woman.



Three buildings collapsed and a further three were damaged in Sicily, according to reports
One person died and several others, including children, were missing after several buildings collapsed in the Sicilian town of Ravanusa following a gas explosion, Italian emergency services said early Sunday.

One of the buildings was on fire after a gas methane leak caused the blast at about 8:30 p.m. local time on Saturday.
The explosion, in the town of 11,000 near the Sicilian city of Agrigento, affected four buildings, according to Sicily's civil protection unit DRPC Sicilia.

However, Italian news agency ANSA later cited it as saying that six buildings were hit.
Rescue workers were able to contain the fire triggered by the explosion around 11:15 p.m., but emergency workers could access the site due to "pockets of gas," DRPC Sicilia said.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1469812612150009863

About 250 rescuers, including civil protection volunteers, joined the operation, aided by sniffer dogs and overhead drones.

They started to search the rubble for missing residents, including a young couple expecting a baby and two children.

One body was pulled from the rubble, DRPC Sicilia said, adding that two women were rescued and a further eight people remained missing.

Elderly women saved​

An elderly woman was rescued from the rubble of a building "probably near to those affected by the disaster," DRPC Sicilia said in an update early Sunday.

She suffered mild trauma and had been transferred to the hospital in the nearby city of Licata, the civil protection unit said. She suffered minor injuries, including some fractures, it added.

Another woman — believed to be the first one's sister — was pulled out soon afterward, said DRPC Sicilia head Salvo Cocina.

Out of those still missing, nine were in the same building at the time of the explosion, ANSA reported.

"The search for the other missing persons by urban search and rescue and canine units continues unabated," firefighters said in a tweet.

adi/rc (dpa, Reuters)