A good friend of my dads was killed when his house exploded

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20130301/NEWS01/303010018/

It's crazy. Danny was a good friend of my dads. Real nice guy. We used to park in his yard and walk down to the dream cruise.

Joey

That is a bad deal for everyone, sorry about your loss

Sorry to hear that.

That's awful, I am so sorry to hear that. RIP Danny.

Wow. This is the case where the gas company said "yeah, our bad. We goofed up with a pipe" right?

That's terrible.

That sure is one hell of a "civic improvement" program.

I have to say, I'm not at all surprised. Consumers seem to fix things only after somebody gets hurt/killed or put at serious risk. Prior to running 3 phase through, the power lines through my parents backyard were seriously frayed, like a strand or two strand left in a couple spots from rednecks shooting birds off, presumably. Those lines had been that way since my parent moved in in the 80s and they had been bitching about the danger since the 80s. About 8 years ago a tree took those lines down, and ripped the seriously rotten cross timbers off the ancient pole. They just put the lines back up, poorly(droopy) I might add.

Wow, that is terrible.

I used to work for a company called Southern Cross Corp. that manufactures gas line survey equipment and has survey contracts all over the US for gas leaks. There was a huge explosion that happened out in California a few years ago that leveled a neighborhood. PG&E was found negligent as I remember it and contracted our company to help find these leaks after the explosion. I know that Consumers Energy used our equipment as I have shipped and received their equipment hundreds of times. They did not use our technicians when I worked for Southern Cross though.

Damn, hate to hear it, Joey. Regards to your dad.

We had a situation here a few months back, but the homeowner deliberately rigged the house to catch fire. Instead it went off like a bomb and leveled most the neighborhood, killing the couple next door who was home. I hope if the gas company is negligent their will be justice for the family.

Wow, sorry to hear about this. My condolences.

We felt the explosion a couple miles away, wondered what the heck happened. From what I hear locally, he was very well liked. Just awful - sorry Joey.

bastomatic wrote: We felt the explosion a couple miles away, wondered what the heck happened. From what I hear locally, he was very well liked. Just awful - sorry Joey.

Yeah, he was a good guy. My dad and him were really good friends. It's just... Such a weird way to go. As they say, if it your time...

Thanks for the condolences, guys. I'll pass them on to my old man.

Joey

That's been all over the news here, as you can imagine. Very sorry for your dad and the family.

Same with us. I didn't realize you were local, Tom. My work is based in Howell.

Joey

Yeah, I live just north of Brighton.

I work just up the road from there, co-workers felt it (I'd already left for the day). Very strange. Sorry for the loss.

The gas company around here is fazing out all of the inside work they use to do. Too many mistakes, and bad press from gas explosions, so now they can have the local plumber, and local contractors to point fingers at. Problem is, now you have to have stuff tested by the local inspector and the gas company before they will turn on the gas. The crazy prices they use to charge for pipe fitting, now they just charge those prices to come out and inspect someone else's work. Same profit margins, less liability, more expense to the consumer.

Man, I'm very sorry to hear that. Stay strong for your dad.