Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion file photo In this photo taken Jan. 31, 2016, debris covers the ground where a house once stood on Lilac Lane in Kenai, Alaska. Two homes exploded and another two caught on fire after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocked the Kenai Peninsula on Jan. 24.

Photo by Megan Pacer/Peninsula Clarion file photo In this photo taken Jan. 31, 2016, debris covers the ground where a house once stood on Lilac Lane in Kenai, Alaska. Two homes exploded and another two caught on fire after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocked the Kenai Peninsula on Jan. 24.

Cause of gas explosions investigated

Last month, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake shook the peninsula and created a hole in a 1 1/4-inch gas line in a residential area of Kenai. What caused the gas that subsequently leaked out to ignite, however, might never be uncovered.

Kenai Fire Marshal Tommy Carver is in the process of completing a report on the earthquake and following gas explosions that destroyed four homes along Lilac Lane on Jan. 24. When the quake, which struck at 1:30 a.m., opened up the line, the natural gas leached out into the ground where it was able to move around under a layer of frozen soil, Carver said.

“What it wants to do is find the path of least resistance, which often times is underneath homes because they’re not frozen underneath,” he said.

From there, the gas was ignited by something and caused one home on Lilac Lane to explode at 2:13 a.m., Carver said. Firefighters and Kenai Police responded, put the fire out on that first home, and evacuated the neighborhood.

Even after his investigation, Carver said the department may never know what actually ignited the gas due to the extent of damage that was done to the homes.

“Virtually any spark could be an ignition source,” he said.

Firefighters, police and employees of Enstar Natural Gas Co. remained in the Lilac Lane area after the first explosion-driven fire had been put out. The second explosion shook the street at 5:54 a.m., Carver said.

Two Enstar employees who were in the process of digging down to the gas line in front of the houses were in close range at the time, but happened to be behind a large spruce tree and were not harmed, he said.

“They were within 30 feet of the house,” Carver said. “Had they not been blocked by the tree, I think it could have been catastrophic.”

Kenai Fire Captain John Harris and Battalion Chief Tony Prior were also close to the second house when it exploded, Carver said. Prior later told him he hadn’t noticed at first that a window and a garage door from the home had shot across the street, he said.

“They were definitely in harm’s way,” Carver said. “It was probably sheer luck that nothing went directly at them.”

Carver’s official report should be finished in a few weeks, he said. The department enters all fire incidents into a database called the Alaska National Fire Incident Reporting System, which feeds into a national database, said Kenai Fire Chief Jeff Tucker.

“For fire reports, we collect it on a national basis, and we have national statistics,” he said.

Tucker said those statistics help people in the firefighting profession to track trends in what burns as well as fire-related deaths and injuries. In turn, these trends inform codes and safety measures within the field, Tucker said.

Carver said the department also holds reviews with staff members following fire incidents to go over what happened and if anything can be learned from the situation.

“We always try and do that with every incident that we have,” he said. “We’ll try and get some training out of this as well.”

In terms of response to the explosions, Carver said Prior and Harris made the right calls early on by evacuating the entire Lilac Lane neighborhood. After the first house exploded, its gas meter was shut off, but Harris could still smell natural gas in the area, which made him nervous, Carver said. Without the early evacuation, there definitely could have been fatalities, he said.

The fires were also unique in that they were caused by the gas leak, so firefighters were not able to fight them as they normally would for fear of continued leaks or explosions, Carver said.

“Captain Harris and Battalion Chief Prior made that decision when the second house blew to pull everybody, including our guys, back away from it,” Carver said. “I think they did a fantastic job. I don’t know that it could have gone better, given the circumstances.”

The fire department has worked closely with Enstar throughout the initial explosions and aftermath. Carver said Enstar personnel were on the scene of the explosions before they were even officially called.

Enstar is conducting its own review of the incident, though it is an internal investigation, said Communications Manager Lindsay Hobson. The review is standard procedure for Enstar any time part of its system is affected or damaged, she said.

Employees from Enstar are still in the Lilac Lane area keeping an eye on gas levels, and though there is no timeline for how long that will last, Hobson said they will likely stay there for the next few weeks.

“We’re just still monitoring to make sure that those gas concentrations stay at a zero percent level,” she said.

 

Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in Life

This Korean rice porridge, called dak juk, is easy to digest but hearty and nutritious, perfect for when you’re learning how to eat. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
A comforting meal for new beginnings

Rice porridge is a common first solid meal for many, many babies around the world

file
Minister’s Message: The sound of God’s voice

In all my desperate prayers, I sometimes forget that God has spoken definitively already

Rivers and Ice by Susan Pope. (Promotional photo)
KPC Showcase to feature discussion with Alaska author Susan Pope

Pope will discuss her memoir “Rivers and Ice: A Woman’s Journey Toward Family and Forgiveness”

Promotional photo courtesy Sony Pictures
Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace and Celeste O’Connor appear in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.”
On the Screen: New ‘Ghostbusters’ struggles to balance original ideas and nostalgia

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” picks up right where “Afterlife” left off, and it also succumbs to a lot of the same problems

document from ancestry.com
William Raymond “W.R.” Benson’s draft-registration card from 1942 reveals that he was 52 years old, living in Seward and self-employed. His wife, Mable, is listed as a person who will always know his address.
Hometown Booster: The W.R. Benson Story — Part 2

W.R. Benson was a mover and a shaker throughout his life, but particularly so in Alaska

Terri Zopf-Schoessler and Donna Shirnberg rehearse “The Odd Couple: The Female Version” at the Kenai Performers’ Theater near Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘Iconic, classic comedy’

Kenai Performers debuts “The Odd Couple: The Female Version”

Photo provided by Sara Hondel
Sara Hondel stands with a leprechaun during Sweeney’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Soldotna on Sunday. Green, leprechauns and Nugget the Moose poured down the streets for the 34th annual parade hosted by the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce. Under cloudy skies — but fortunately no precipitation — a procession of viridescent celebrants representing businesses and organizations brought festivities to an array of attendees lining Redoubt Avenue.
Go green or go home

Soldotna turns out for St. Patrick’s Day parade

Eggplants, garlic, lemon juice and tahini make up this recipe for baba ghanouj. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
When making a good example is hard to swallow

Preparing baba ghanouj despite a dislike of eggplant

William Raymond “W.R.” Benson (front row, far right) poses along with the rest of the Sigma Nu fraternity at Albion College in Michigan in about 1908. Despite a lifetime spent in the public eye, Benson was apparently seldom captured on film. This image is one of the few photos of him known to exist. (photo from the 1908 Albion College yearbook via ancestry.com)
Hometown Booster: The W.R. Benson Story — Part 1

W.R. Benson was a man almost constantly in motion

Most Read