Gas explosions in Massachusetts

[Gromdor]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/13/us/massachusetts-explosions-fires/index.html

This seems surreal.  Is it oxygen in the gas lines or something?

[The Caspian Hare]

Could be gas pressure spike? maybe one of our resident engineers can chime in

Live helicopter video stream here, multiple houses burning:

https://whdh.com/on-air-live-stream/

Holy cow! 60 + explosions!

https://www.wmur.com/article/lawrence-massachusetts-multiple-fires-gas-pressurization/23121005

Scanner feed from local fire dept:

https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/14993

Still shot I found on the web from earlier:

 

Edited September 13, 2018 by The Caspian Hare

[Piney]

1 hour ago, Gromdor said:

This seems surreal.  Is it oxygen in the gas lines or something?

Infrastructure collapse. They aren't replacing the old ones. They've been popping all over around Pittsburgh for years and in the older developments in South Jersey. Not all hit the news though and not all ignite. 

[Gromdor]

1 minute ago, Piney said:

Infrastructure collapse. They aren't replacing the old ones. They've been popping all over around Pittsburgh for years and in the older developments in South Jersey. Not all hit the news though and not all ignite. 

Normally gas lines have safety devices to prevent leaks and stuff.  I'm trying to figure out what could have by-passed it all.  Overpressure popping the lines open in houses?  Oxygen in the system causing the lines themselves to explode?

[Piney]

2 minutes ago, Gromdor said:

Normally gas lines have safety devices to prevent leaks and stuff.  I'm trying to figure out what could have by-passed it all.  Overpressure popping the lines open in houses?  Oxygen in the system causing the lines themselves to explode?

I see a lot of 70s era buildings in the pics. The primary line and regulator valve was probably iron and rusted. 

[Gromdor]

1 minute ago, Piney said:

I see a lot of 70s era buildings in the pics. The primary line and regulator valve was probably iron and rusted. 

One thing is for certain.  The problem isn't on the various homeowners.  It clearly was something with the gas delivery.

[+and-then]

Anyone know much about the "internet of things"?  I'll be curious to see if the commonality with these fires is that there were gas appliances that were "smart" and connected to the net.  Hacker arson?  

[Piney]

8 minutes ago, Gromdor said:

One thing is for certain.  The problem isn't on the various homeowners.  It clearly was something with the gas delivery.

That's for sure! 

[Piney]

4 minutes ago, and then said:

Anyone know much about the "internet of things"?  I'll be curious to see if the commonality with these fires is that there were gas appliances that were "smart" and connected to the net.  Hacker arson?  

My camper and my sister's washer and dryer are "smart" but none are connected to the net. They need a modem for that. 

[+and-then]

Just now, Piney said:

My camper and my sister's washer and dryer are "smart" but none are connected to the net. They need a modem for that. 

I recently took an audio-book course on THE SURVEILLANCE STATE.  Many modern devices operate connected to the net by wifi.  For there to be that many fires in separate communities, there has to be some commonality.

[Piney]

Just now, and then said:

I recently took an audio-book course on THE SURVEILLANCE STATE.  Many modern devices operate connected to the net by wifi.  For there to be that many fires in separate communities, there has to be some commonality.

Still need a modem.

I have 3 ports in my camper. One for my dish. The other 2 to diagnose my OS for my HVAC and my charging system.

I'm on a good laptop so I just pull the wifi from the main house and don't use my dish. 

[+susieice]

One has died and officials are telling anyone with gas appliances to leave their homes. This link was updated at 11:15 pm. Crazy!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lawrence-ma-fire-gas-explosion-suspected-2018-09-13-live-updates/

CNN report:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/13/us/massachusetts-explosions-fires/index.html

Edited September 14, 2018 by susieice

[+and-then]

6 hours ago, Piney said:

Still need a modem.

I have 3 ports in my camper. One for my dish. The other 2 to diagnose my OS for my HVAC and my charging system.

I'm on a good laptop so I just pull the wifi from the main house and don't use my dish. 

I thought things like smart refrigerators, for example, were connected to the net to automatically send diagnostic info or even to order items that were on a list of regularly replaced things like milk, eggs, etc.  Also, smartphone controls of AC, Heat and so on?  It just seems like all the houses that are served by this company would be exploding rather than random places here and there over 3 townships.  

[Piney]

2 hours ago, and then said:

I thought things like smart refrigerators, for example, were connected to the net to automatically send diagnostic info or even to order items that were on a list of regularly replaced things like milk, eggs, etc.  Also, smartphone controls of AC, Heat and so on?  It just seems like all the houses that are served by this company would be exploding rather than random places here and there over 3 townships.  

 

I forgot about the smartphone controls. I don't have that. Just USB ports so I can gather fault codes. But I don't see them on a washer. As for a refrigerator that orders food. You would need a AI that doesn't happen to be invented yet. But smartphone heater and light controls are a different story.