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Explosion of Natural Gas in a Three-Story Brick Building

A late-night explosion in a three-story brick building in San Francisco, California, totally destroyed the building and killed three nearby pedestrians. Within hours, APTECH was brought in by the local gas utility company to survey the scene and collect crucial evidence. The gas company wanted to determine if gas was involved and, if so, the location of the leak. The building was suspected of housing a drug-manufacturing laboratory, so the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms was also involved, as well as the San Francisco Fire Department. We surveyed the effects of the blast wave on neighboring structures. We also examined gas piping, appliances and the gas meter inside the building, and the gas service piping outside the building. Finally, we performed a preliminary analysis of the ignition and explosion event.

Satish Almaula		Plant failure and root cause analysis; process and design engineering analysis; process technology development and testing; plant engineering, operations, maintenance and safety management; plant and process control system management.

Kimble Clark, Ph.D.		Failure analysis, heat transfer & thermodynamics, process plant equipment failures & explosions, fuel science, combustion, industrial fires and explosions.

Richard Schreiber, P.E.		Machinery and mechanical device failure analysis, mechanical testing, combustion and heat transfer, industrial fires and explosions, gas appliances.