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Dave Martindale Dave Martindale is offline
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Default Massive Natural Gas Explosion "Flips" a House

writes:

I'm referring to this part.
"(Meter readings show a larger than usual amount of gas flowing
through Gaulke's pipes between May 11 and June 2. In a slow leak, gas
would have migrated to other parts of the house, including the attic.
And when it ignited, it would have blown off the roof and walls but
left the floor intact.)"


The explosion was June 3. If the meter readings were high during
those approx. 3 weeks, where would it have gone?


I don't think that's what happened. Probably the last meter reading
was done on May 11. The reading on June 2 indicated that *sometime
during that period* there was a high flow of gas, because the June 2
reading is higher than you'd expect from previous normal consumption.
But the gas flow might have been perfectly normal until 15 minutes
before the explosion, at which time something failed and started
leaking fast.

Now, reading the statement as written, you'd think that gas flow was
high for the whole 3 weeks, but unless the gas meter is some sort of
fancy electronic type that keeps a record of gas flow vs. time, there's
no possible way to tell the difference between a slightly high flow for
3 weeks and a normal flow for 3 weeks followed by a large leak.

I'd chalk this up to sloppy writing by the author.

Dave