HUNTSVILLE GAS SYSTEM — Gas distribution — incident on 2023-03-11

Gas distribution incident in HUNTSVILLE, MADISON County, AL. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries, 64.7 NATURAL GAS released, $5,000 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings.

Report number: 20230016.

Operator ID: 7685.

Reported incident date: 3/11/2023 13:43.

Location detail: 278 BREVARD BLV

Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY

Cause detail: EXCAVATION ISSUE

Cause detail: IMPROPER EXCAVATION PRACTICE NOT LISTED ABOVE

Cause detail: AT APPROXIMATELY 1245 (12:45PM CST) ON MARCH 11, 2023, HUNTSVILLE UTILITIES (HU) DISPATCH CENTER RECEIVED A TELEPHONE CALL FROM A CONTRACTOR NOTIFYING HU THAT HE HAD CUT A GAS SERVICE LINE AT 278 BREVARD BLVD. ON-CALL CREWS FROM HU GAS DEPARTMENT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION AT 1245 (12:45PM CST) OF AN OUTSIDE LEAK DUE TO A DIG IN. HU GAS DEPARTMENT HELPER ARRIVED ON SCENE AT 1258 (12:58PM CST) AND NOTICED A STRONG SMELL OF GAS. THE FIRST RESPONDER KNOCKED ON THE FRONT DOOR, BUT NO ONE ANSWERED. THE METER WAS THEN TURNED OFF AND CONTACT WAS MADE WITH ONE OF THE HOMEOWNERS THAT ARRIVED AT THE HOUSE. DUE TO THE RESIDENT NOT BEING ABLE TO SPEAK ENGLISH, HU EMPLOYEE HAD TO REQUEST HELP FROM THE CONTRACTOR FOR TRANSLATION. AFTER THE CONTRACTOR TRANSLATED THE INFORMATION, THE RESIDENT WENT INSIDE AND RETRIEVED A RESIDENT THAT COULD SPEAK ENGLISH. THE HU EMPLOYEE WENT INTO THE HOUSE AND COULD SMELL GAS IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM. HE INSTRUCTED THE RESIDENT TO GET EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE OUT AND TO NOT TURN ON ANY SWITCHES. THE RESIDENT PROCEEDED TO TURN ON SOME LIGHT SWITCHES AND THE HU EMPLOYEE REITERATED NOT TO TURN ON/OFF ANYTHING AND TO GET EVERYONE OUT OF THE HOUSE. AT APPROXIMATELY 1315 (01:15PM CST) HU LEADMAN ON-CALL ARRIVED AND NOTICED GAS WAS BLOWING OUT OF THE GROUND NEAR THE SERVICE RISER. ONE CREW MEMBER BEGAN TO ATTEMPT TO TEST THE ATMOSPHERE IN THE HOUSE WITH A GAS DETECTION UNIT. IN HIS ATTEMPT TO GET INTO THE HOUSE, THE RESIDENCE LOCKED THE DOOR THUS HE HAD TO FIND THE RESIDENT TO UNLOCK THE DOOR. ALSO, HU PERSONNEL WERE BEGINNING TO IDENTIFY THE MAINLINE VALVES THAT WOULD ISOLATE THIS SECTION OF MAIN SERVING THE RESIDENCE. AT 1333 (01:33PM CST) THE SUPERVISOR ON-CALL ARRIVED AT THE SCENE AND BEGAN ACCESS THE SCENE. DURING THIS TIME OTHER CREW MEMBERS BEGAN DIGGING A HOLE NEAR THE AREA THAT THE SERVICE LINE WAS DAMAGED TO VENT THE GAS AWAY FROM THE HOUSE. UPON GAINING ACCESS TO THE RESIDENCE TO TEST THE ATMOSPHERE WITH THE GAS DETECTION UNIT, THE CREW MEMBER IN THE HOUSE HEARD WHAT SOUNDED LIKE THE GARAGE DOOR OPENING AND HEARD A LOUD ROARING SOUND. AS HE SAW THE FLAMES, HE RAN OUT THE FRONT DOOR. THE CREW MEMBERS DIGGING IN THE YARD HEARD WHAT THEY ASSUMED WHAT THE GARAGE DOOR OPENING IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY AN EXPLOSION AT 1343 (01:43PM CST). CREW MEMBERS RE-ASSEMBLED NEAR THE STREET, THE SUPERVISOR ON SCENE CALL 911 AT 1343 (01:43PM CST) WHILE THE OTHER CREW MEMBERS CHECKED ON THE HEALTH STATUS OF ALL INDIVIDUALS AT THE SCENE. UPON FINDING NO ONE WAS INJURED, THE CREWS BEGAN TO LOCATE THE NEAREST MAIN LINE VALVES TO BEGIN TO SHUT OFF GAS TO THE WHOLE AREA. AFTER THE SUPERVISOR ENDED HIS CALL WITH 911, HE BEGAN TO CALL ADDITIONAL CREWS TO BRING SOME EQUIPMENT TO DIG THE SERVICE UP AND CAP IT OFF. ADDITIONAL CREWS ARRIVED ON SCENE AT 14:00 (02:00 PM CST) TO BEGIN DIGGING THE SERVICE UP ACROSS THE STREET SQUEEZE IT OFF AND CAP BOTH ENDS OF THE CUT. DURING THIS TIME ADDITIONAL CREW MEMBERS BEGAN LEAK SURVEYING THE SURROUND AREA AND PERFORMING BAR HOLE TEST AROUND THE MAIN. ONCE THE FIRE WAS EXTINGUISHED, CREWS MOVED ONTO THE PROPERTY AND CONTINUED LEAK SURVEY THE SURROUNDING AREA AND BAR HOLING THE SCENE. THE FIRE MARSHAL INSTRUCTED US TO REMAIN AWAY FROM THE STRUCTURE TILL THEIR INVESTIGATION WAS COMPLETE. AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CAUSE OF THE INCIDENT IS ONGOING. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS MAY HAVE BEEN THE CUT GAS SERVICE LEAKING INTO THE HOUSE WITH AN UNKNOW IGNITION SOURCE. THE LOCAL WEATHER CONDITIONS AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT WERE A TEMPERATURE OF 60 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, THE WIND SPEED WAS 4 MPH, NO WIND GUST, EAST WIND AND PARTLY CLOUDY. A SUPPLEMENTAL OR SUPPLEMENTAL PLUS FINAL REPORT WILL BE FILLED AS SOON AS NEW, UPDATED AND/OR CORRECTED INFORMATION IS KNOWN. IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE INCIDENT WAS LOCATES NOT BEING PERFORMED WITHIN THE ALLOTTED TIME FRAME. THE CONTRACTOR CORRECTLY LOCATED THE SERVICE LINE THEMSELVES, BUT DID NOT POT-HOLE THE UTILITIES.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, not serious, not fire-first.

PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE.

PHMSA indexed costs: $395,824 reported total cost, $167,332.578 in 1984 dollars, $411,804.405 in current-year dollars.

PHMSA trend flags, standardized causes, and indexed costs are analytical fields added to operator-reported incident data. They do not represent final agency causal findings.