SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) – State officials say that “human error”, not a gas main leak on the street, was the cause of the explosion on Worthington Street Friday evening.
Massachusetts Fire Marshall Stephen Coan along with Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and other State officials announced Sunday afternoon that a punctured pipe is to blame for the explosion Friday evening, and Columbia Gas is taking full responsibility.
“Human error…is what the cause of the explosion was,” Coan said.
Friday, on a service call for an odor of gas inside the building at 453 Worthington Street, a Columbia Gas employee was using a metal probe to make holes in order to measure gas. According to the investigative team, it appears that the employee followed protocal in regards to appropriate distance for measurement. However, the markings on the sidewalk were incorrect and his metal probe punctured a high-pressure gas line in front of the building.
The building was evacuated immediately. Due to the punctured pipe gas built up inside the building, and the investigative team believes there were too many possible ignition sources inside the buidling to pinpoint just one.
The Department of Public Utilities began a formal investigation of Columbia Gas on Friday. The investigation is ongoing.
The explosion on Friday at 5:25pm at Score’s Gentlemen’s Club on Worthington Street damaged 42 buildings and injured 20 people. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
Damage is estimated in the millions at this time.
ABC40 will continue to bring you the latest details as they become available, both on-air and online.
sounds like someone’s loosing their job
Wow! Someone’s losing their job among other problems.
Union will get his/her job back
while im glad that columbia gas is taking full resposibility…. man that sucks. at the very least someone is going to lose their job.
i think theyre looking for someone to blame
So should we expect our bills to go up because they will be sued
Not everyone perfect…we would be rich if we were
I guess we should be on our guard if we need to call the gas company for service.
How are there not fail-safes built into the system to prevent human error on this scale?
Hmmmm I smell insurance scam, n much more
The sad thing about this is somebody needs to pick up that bill and it is sad to say it going to be us the customers for someone mistake for not taking proper precautions
Poor guy,no ones perfect! Who knows he might be the fall guy
People make mistakes….this one just so happens to be a giant mistake.
everyone makes mistakes!!! at least he realized his and everyone was evacuated and no lives were lost
But they still aren’t sure what caused the leak…shouldn’t that be the number 1 concern!! The worker may have caused the explosion by trying to figure out where the leak was originating from.
Wow! It wasnt the guys fault for puncturing the gas line they need to find out who marked it wrong..
We are all human, mistakes happen…let’s be thankfull no one was killed…..and the police and fire departments did a great job with controlling this incident….
Ok before anyone start pointing figures at anyone its NOT the gas company’s Fault !!! ITS DIG SAFE Fault (TARGET) bc I am a landscaper (construction) they do all the makings for use and they are KNOW for there MISTAKES they do it all the time to us !!!!!!!!
The marks on the sidewalk were marked wrong, he was following protocol when he started drilling. Glad he realized it and the building was evacuated. What company put the marks on the sidewalk, the gas company?
Always looking for someone to blame, smh. And Mayor Sarno you control the city including that worker so YOUR to blame as well
I would make a guess at DIGSAFE
very true statement
Why would he lose his job, did you read the article? It says that protocol was followed but markings previously were made were incorrect.
Accidents happen even with the best intentions. Just glad that nobody was seriously hurt. Now ABC 40, please go proof the article. At least, spell the mayor’s name correctly.
That’s why DigSafe should always be called. If they mark the utility locations and the markings are inaccurate, DigSage is SOL. Always a good idea to call them even for very small jobs.
Check out DigSafe!
http://www.digsafe.com/