Gas Testing Underway In Soil Surrounding Home Explosion
FIRESTONE, Colo. (CBS4)- Firefighters in Firestone continued to investigate the cause of a home explosion, more than two weeks after the blast destroyed a home and claimed the lives of two men.
While the fire department continued their investigation along Twilight Avenue in Firestone, workers for the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) searched for buried gas lines in nearby yards, to determine the safety of properties next door.
"A consultant hired by COGCC will conduct a soil gas survey, to sample for hydrocarbons in the environment," said COGCC Director Matt Lepore. "This is a follow-up measure, to determine if there are any hydrocarbon gasses present in the soil."
Some residents told CBS4's Dillon Thomas they were not concerned for their safety, even though the state was conducting research in their yards.
The research COGCC did on the dirt in yards was not the only investigation completed.
"A consultant retained by COGCC used a vehicle mounted methane, and hydrocarbon, detector to survey the neighborhood, to determine if there were any fugitive sources of methane or other hydrocarbon gasses in the neighborhood," said Lepore.
See Lepore's complete news conference Thursday morning in Denver in the video clip below:
Anadarko, a petroleum company, closed more than 3,000 vertical wells in northeast Colorado as a result of the explosion.
Though the company would not say whether their services, and proximity to the home which exploded, were a factor, the company stopped their wells out of an abundance of precaution.
Some who knew the individuals inside the home said they assumed there was a third-party factor to the explosion.
The two men who died inside the home were allegedly working on a water heater. Friends say the two men likely would have taken all safety measures to prevent issues.
"If something needs to be done around the house, those two guys would probably know what they are doing," said Tomas Gonzales, a friend of the deceased individuals. "So, I can only imagine something obviously catastrophic went on."
Additional Resources
A special section of the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission website allows anyone to see if wells are in their neighborhood.
Dillon Thomas is a reporter at CBS4 and a Colorado native. He believes everyone has a story, and would love to share yours! You can find more of his stories by following him on Twitter, @DillonMThomas.
