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I had a nagging suspicion that I should have obtained permission to speculate first.
Don't I feel like the fool.

Geez, a guy can't do anything without criticism. My dad must have signed on as Hearthman!

Sorry HMan, couldn't help myself!

Homeland Security and local authorities are calling it a homicide investigation. They obviously don't believe this happened on its own. Only peep lately was a thought that it might have been remotely set off.

You guys can speculate all you want but until the Certified Fire and Explosion experts, ATF/ Homieland Security et al have investigated and released their findings, you won't have a clue as to what it was. They follow the procedures in NFPA 921 which is a systematic approach instead of grasping for straws. For instance, how do you know it wasn't a broken gas line nowhere near the furnace? Their procedure will look for a source of energy capable of generating this much damage, the mechanism for mixing air/ fuel, source of ignition, etc. You'd be surprised what they can determine even from such devastation. What I want to know is who contacted this former owner or did he call the station? Most people who could be connected in anyway to such an incident tend to lay low avoiding identification, much less public exposure.

This will be interesting as it develops. Yes, NG properly mixed can certainly do this. Due to the collateral damage to adjacent structures, the overpressure and thus working back, the original explosive force can be calculated. It is a fallacy to state that a person would definitely smell a gas leak. First of all, about 15% of the population are not sensitive to the 12 or so odorants used with fuel gas marking. Secondly, there is a phenomenon called "odor fade". This is alleged to occur under certain conditions such as exposure to moisture, rust or wet clay soils. There have been cases where safety controls out in the street failed causing a catastrophic over-pressurization to the service address. Sending high pressure gas into a home with controls tested and listed for 14 wci can fail causing significant fugitive gas, which can accumulate and aerate until a source of ignition is found. That could be anything from a standing pilot to ringing phone, doorbell or any electric switch or even a static discharge.

Urea funny!

Originally Posted by rich pickering

"If it was a fuel gas, my money is on propane"

I've seen Nat gas do that. Guy in town decided to kill himself by gassing with Nat gas. Probably watched to many English movies. His problem was he didn't have a gas oven. So he opened the union to the furnace. While he was waiting, he decided to have one last smoke. Guess what the % of gas was. He lived for about 8 hours. There was NOTHING left standing of the house. The shock wave was felt over 4 miles away.

I'd put my $$$ on 4-15%

"If it was a fuel gas, my money is on propane"

I've seen Nat gas do that. Guy in town decided to kill himself by gassing with Nat gas. Probably watched to many English movies. His problem was he didn't have a gas oven. So he opened the union to the furnace. While he was waiting, he decided to have one last smoke. Guess what the % of gas was. He lived for about 8 hours. There was NOTHING left standing of the house. The shock wave was felt over 4 miles away.

It was an older unmarked white van that normally hung around there. Was gone Sat afternoon before the kaboom. Cops say they have 2 people they are talking to and have warrants out for more.

Luckily, Chris, long ways from our stomping grounds. Our dispatcher, however, lives across the main road from that subdivision. Slept through it! But it knocked the blinds off the windows on that side of the house and blew a vent from the side of the house into the attic.

If it was Tovex, that would explain the devastation. If it was a fuel gas, my money is on propane.

That may exceed the million dollar liability.

Originally Posted by Rodney28334

A white van that looked suspicious was seen before the explosion, beyond that they aint sayin.

Loonie has vans and he is in the area

A white van that looked suspicious was seen before the explosion, beyond that they aint sayin.

Wonder what that means exactly.

Just announced by Homeland Security: It is now a homicide investigation.

They are being quiet. No issues with gas lines exterior to the house. The ex husband is the one pointing to the furnace, the ex wife who lives there says no furnace issue but boyfriend changed the stat to get heat on. First said no gas issues then said daughter smelled gas but they did nothing.

That looks more like propane than natural gas but I am not even close to being an expert. Any news from the investigators?

I haven't seen any pictures of this tragic incident but with natgas being lighter than air, ignition normally occurs at the bottom of the cloud where the right fuel/air mixture is. Opposite for propane as it is heavier than air. Therefore if the roof is completely gone but some walls left it could be natgas but if roof there and walls are gone, propane or another vapor state accelerant could be the cause. This is known as "roof in basement syndrome". A 30lb BBQ propane tank leaking in the basement could build up without odour being detected if the leak was slow enough to fill the basement and the furnace blower was not circulating the air. Stratified gas could then be ignited when the top of the propane cloud got high enough for another ignition source such as the electrical contacts on the fridge as previously suggested. There is tremendous power in that amount of gas.
Unless an expert is there to tell the difference, a propane explosion could be mistaken as a natgas incident.
Fire and explosion investigators have a ton of knowledge to determine the cause. If there is a good one involved they will solve this.

As a side note, there is over 100 times the chance of a fatality in a propane explosion than in a natural gas explosion.

This is sad. Yesterday we were at a home and the customer said that her "Steam Boiler" was making a funny noise and an air vent blew. So she hit the emergency switch. When we open the cover the high presure switch was jumped. She said a different company was there 2 weeks ago and they charged her $150 and got the heat going... how lucky do you think she got!

Originally Posted by craig1

The house was for sale until early this year when they gave up.

The kids were at a friends house

The mom and boyfriend were at a casino and just happen to have videotaped alibis

The cat was being boarded. Who boards a cat for a night out? Leave it food and water and they're good for a few days.

The owner of the house (her ex) owes two mortgages on it, and isn't allowed near it due to a restraining order

The owner tried to file bankruptcy to get out of the mortgages but was denied.

Nothing suspicious here, move along




Somehow I suspect there will be a very interesting follow up in a few weeks.

Do not pass go, do not collect insurance settlement, go directly to jail.

Boarding a cat? really? 4-5 days easy without even scooping the liter. Leave a faucet dripping very slowly, use 4 or 5 liter boxes and a self dispensing feeder that holds 7-8lbs of food and a single cat is good for at least a month if needed.


Seems like too much of a coincidence for sure. I'm guessing they overestimated the amount of boom you get, or expected it to light off sooner and just burn the house down. Would be more believeable if they were on vacation, not gone for one night and they let the cat get blown up.

Natural gas explosions in homes are one of the few moments where even hollywood falls short on how much damage is caused (usually they are over the top).

Something as simple as looseening a threaded pipe, then just wait for the contactor on a refrigerator or a deep freeze in the basement to light it off. OR set the thermostat schedule at an ideal time, hours after you've left. With natrual gas, there's plenty of ignition sources. It doesn't take much in the right concentration.

2 counts of manslaughters, public endangerment, maybe some charges as a terrorist under the Patriot Act, with a little insurance fraud to go with it. Throw in criminal conspiracy for those that had knowledge.

Lotsa things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmm