Massive explosion near me, scary stuff.

redrumloa

redrumloa

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https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2342060572679276

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=664683943998346

Explosion at Plantation, Florida, shopping center leaves 21 people injured: 'It just looks like an apocalypse'

Luckily my family and friends are safe. This is only about 3 miles from my house, and I visit there at least 5 times a week. The primary building I manage is about 2 blocks away. My son, his girlfriend, and other friends go to the LA Fitness. A friend's son was in it at the time of the explosion. My daughter works at a restaurant in this shipping center. It is amazing no one has been killed. It seems to be a gas explosion at a closed down pizza restaurant. Directly next to that restaurant was a business called "Code Ninjas". Due to the 4th of July weekend, it was closed. Normally on a Saturday morning there would be 20-30 kids in there. That would have been 20-30+ kids and adults dead.

Scary, scary stuff.
 
That looks devastating. Glad to hear no one lost their life which is amazing, looking at the aftermath.
 
Robert said:
That looks devastating. Glad to hear no one lost their life which is amazing, looking at the aftermath.
Click to expand...

It is extraordinarily lucky this happened on a holiday weekend. That coding school "Coding Ninjas" was literally destroyed, and it usually has 20-30 kids plus instructors on the weekend. Even still, that LA Fitness is usually packed. Next to Coding ninjas was a dentist office, which was also only closed for the holiday weekend. Probably would have been all fatalities there also.

Injury toll is up to 21 at last check, with only 2 being listed as serious, and one of those 2 being listed as a critical trauma patient. Even with the holiday, I am shocked but of course relieved there were no fatalities. Another local friend who lives in Weston (~13 miles away) said it made the local social medial due to it being heard there.

 
Geez, that's a huge boom, so glad no one was killed :eek:
 
Heard about that. Larger than I thought it was. Wonder if it would have happened at all on a normal business day. Explosive gases generally have odorants added so you can smell them before they build up to explosive levels. Also wander what the source of the gas was. I just bought a new freezer for my shop and the most common refrigerant these days is propane. Usually when refrigeration systems go they don't leak all of their refrigerant at once ... but sometimes they do!
 
What business was at the center of the explosion?
For an explosion of that magnitude a lot of natural gas had to accumulate at the stoichiometric ratio.
usually the only business with a large volume gas hookup would be a restaurant.
Natural Gas has mercaptan or Tetrahydrothiophene added, which gives it distinctive odor
How did that much gas accumulate without anyone noticing the odor?
I'm sure the ATF is asking the same questions I am
 
metalman said:
What business was at the center of the explosion?
For an explosion of that magnitude a lot of natural gas had to accumulate at the stoichiometric ratio.
usually the only business with a large volume gas hookup would be a restaurant.
Natural Gas has mercaptan or Tetrahydrothiophene added, which gives it distinctive odor
How did that much gas accumulate without anyone noticing the odor?
I'm sure the ATF is asking the same questions I am
Click to expand...

The business at the epicenter of the explosion was "PizzaFire", which has been closed since December. Supposedly, another business had signed a lease and were going to move in soon. There is natural gas service to this plaza. Teco Gas (the local provider) came on site to shut off all service to the plaza after the explosion.

Local authorities are investigating, and thus far not done much speculating on the cause. To me this seems obvious it was a natural gas leak. It apparently went unnoticed, due to this being a long closed restaurant. Beyond that, my speculation gets far less grounded and more guessing. A long closed restaurant should have had service shut off to their individual space.

I have a theory in my head, but only based on guess work. PizzaFire shut down in December, disconnected their gas service, and removed equipment like ovens. This may have left an open gas line(s), or localized shutoff valves that were leaky. The new incoming business may have restored the gas service in anticipation of moving in. With service restored but no occupancy yet, gasses were left to accumulate to extreme levels. At a certain point they were so thick something as simple as static electricity in the air , or some electronics in/near the suite set it off.
 
JoBBo said:
Was it luck though?
Click to expand...

If you believe in the concept of luck, yes. An explosion this massive with no fatalities? The only reason there was not 40+ instant fatalities was due to the long holiday weekend being observed. Seeing the carnage that is only comparable to a massive military air strike? Even with the business closures, the plaza was packed. The LA Fitness is always packed and it took a lot of the brunt of the explosion. There was not anyone standing outside of LA Fitness or even walking that section of parking lot at the time. The worst injury was in the next plaza over to the north, in the parking lot. I wouldn't know what to call it other than luck. If it happened this upcoming weekend instead? I don't even want to think about it.
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
Wonder if it would have happened at all on a normal business day. Explosive gases generally have odorants added so you can smell them before they build up to explosive levels. Also wander what the source of the gas was
Click to expand...

As mention a couple posts above, it was in a long vacant restaurant, so no one there to smell it. it was natural gas service to the property (not officially yet announced the cause, but that is it).
 
redrumloa said:
The business at the epicenter of the explosion was "PizzaFire", which has been closed since December. Supposedly, another business had signed a lease and were going to move in soon. There is natural gas service to this plaza. Teco Gas (the local provider) came on site to shut off all service to the plaza after the explosion.

Local authorities are investigating, and thus far not done much speculating on the cause. To me this seems obvious it was a natural gas leak. It apparently went unnoticed, due to this being a long closed restaurant. Beyond that, my speculation gets far less grounded and more guessing. A long closed restaurant should have had service shut off to their individual space.

I have a theory in my head, but only based on guess work. PizzaFire shut down in December, disconnected their gas service, and removed equipment like ovens. This may have left an open gas line(s), or localized shutoff valves that were leaky. The new incoming business may have restored the gas service in anticipation of moving in. With service restored but no occupancy yet, gasses were left to accumulate to extreme levels. At a certain point they were so thick something as simple as static electricity in the air , or some electronics in/near the suite set it off.
Click to expand...

I sometimes fabricate Fire code items for restaurants.
They can't connect gas service until they preform a leak test that is inspected and passed by the Fire Marshall, there are also multiple and redundant emergency cut-0ffs in the distribution piping system. The service provider will also inspect the piping and check the piping leak test, before turning on service

NFPA 72 Requirements for Installing Gas Detection Systems on Fire Alarms

Once the stoichiometric ratio is reached, any spark can ignite it


 
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