NTSB quotes a leaky pipe in Hutchinson's explosion examinations

Hutchinson, Kan. (KSNW)-The investigators have published their preliminary knowledge about what the explosion in a Hutchinson business caused last month and said that a welding seam was found on a 10-inch gas supply line as leaking.

The NTSB says that this is temporary and could change because the examination continues.

Shortly before 9:30 a.m. on February 22nd, Reno County Dispatchers sent the Hutchinson fire brigade to check a smell of gas near Main and Avenue E.. The NTSB said Hutchinson/Reno County -Notfall Communication also shared Kansas Gas Service, a department of a gas inc.

The first firefighters on site were able to smell a strong natural gas smell outside of Steffen's car parts. You have improved the department's reaction to a commercial gas leak. The firefighters who went into the store said they had high -ranking gas readings about their personal monitors. They evacuated the owner who was still in the building.

The shop exploded about 20 seconds later. The dash cam of a battalion leader recorded it. Nobody was injured.

The NTSB says that the explosion estimated damage at around 875,000 US dollars at around 10:05 a.m.

According to NTSB, a gas generated a natural gas service to the area via a distribution system, which contained a 10-inch earth-main gas main actor along Avenue E.

After the explosion, a gas dug up the area to evaluate about 120 feet. The NTSB said that a leak was found during a scales. It also means that a gas isolated the leaky segment and stopped the gas flow shortly before 9 p.m. that night.

The NTSB collected evidence, including part of the 10-inch tube, and sent them to the NTSB laboratory in Washington, DC for evaluation and examination.

In the further course of the investigation, the NTSB will concentrate on earlier mistakes and the delicacy history of the pipeline, the integrity management program of a gas, the state regulatory supervision, a gas and emergency response training as well as the leak reaction, the security management system and the insulation planning tool of a gas.