OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14527121

FLAMMABLE VAPORS,EXPLOSION,BURN,FIRE,NATURAL GAS,GAS LEAK

1986-02-04T00:00:00

Event: FLAMMABLE VAPORS,EXPLOSION,BURN,FIRE,NATURAL GAS,GAS LEAK
Linked inspection: No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number: 14527121
Report ID: 419400

Event description

GAS EXPLOSION AND FIRE IN RETAIL FURNITURE STORE

Investigation abstract

THE EMPLOYER'S FAMILY AND THEIR EMPLOYEES WERE DOING ROUTINE WORK IN A RETAIL FU N UNAUTHORIZED DRESSER COUPLING HAD BEEN USED. THE COUPLING CAME APART, ALLOWING GAS TO SATURATE THE ENTIRE AREA (100% OF THE LEL). THE EXPLOSION AND FIRE KILLE D EIGHT EMPLOYEES. ONE EMPLOYEE REMAINS IN SERIOUS CONDITION IN THE HOSPITAL. RNITURE STORE. SUDDENLY AN EXPLOSION OCCURRED, WITH ENSUING FIRE, STARTING IN TH E EAST REAR OF THE BUILDING . THE MAIN FORCE OF THE EXPLOSION CAME THROUGH THE C EILING. THE BLAST BLEW OUT THE REAR WALL AND PART OF THE WEST WALL, THEN TRAVELL ED THROUGH THE CEILING AND EAST WALL TO THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING, BLOWING OUT T HE GLASS FRONT AND PART OF THE METAL BUILDING. GAS HAD ENTERED THE STORE THROUGH THE CONCRETE FLOOR AND THE OPEN SEWER VENT PIPE. (THERE WERE WATER LINE OPENING S IN THE FLOOR.) THE SERVCE GAS LINE HAD BEEN CUT, ADJACENT TO A BROKEN SEWER LI NE, MONTHS EARLIER BY A CONSTRUCTION CREW. THE GAS LINE HAD BEEN REPAIRED, BUT A

Victims (12)

#1 Fatality Age 54 F

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
4

Event type
14

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
14

Environmental factor
7

Task assigned
1
#2 Fatality Age 30 F

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
4

Event type
14

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
14

Environmental factor
7

Task assigned
1
#3 Fatality Age 29 F

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
4

Event type
14

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
14

Environmental factor
7

Task assigned
1
#4 Fatality Age 20 F

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
4

Event type
14

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
14

Environmental factor
7

Task assigned
1
#5 Fatality Age 20 F

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
4

Event type
14

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
14

Environmental factor
7

Task assigned
1
#6 Fatality Age 67 F

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
4

Event type
14

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
14

Environmental factor
7

Task assigned
1
#7 Fatality Age 56 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
4

Event type
14

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
14

Environmental factor
7

Task assigned
1
#8 Fatality Age 24 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
4

Event type
14

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
14

Environmental factor
7

Task assigned
1
#9 Hospitalized Age 18 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
4

Event type
14

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
14

Environmental factor
7

Task assigned
1
#981 Degree 0 Age 0

Nature of injury
0

Part of body
0

Event type
0

Source
0

Occupation code
0

Human factor
0

Environmental factor
0

Task assigned
0
#982 Degree 0 Age 0

Nature of injury
0

Part of body
0

Event type
0

Source
0

Occupation code
0

Human factor
0

Environmental factor
0

Task assigned
0
#983 Degree 0 Age 0

Nature of injury
0

Part of body
0

Event type
0

Source
0

Occupation code
0

Human factor
0

Environmental factor
0

Task assigned
0

Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.