Propane Leak Sparks Deadly Texas House Explosion, Fire
Source Victoria Advocate, Texas
The Texas Railroad Commission found that two manual valves to the pipes supplying propane to the fireplace were in the open position. A switch that controlled a third valve from inside the house also was on.
The May 28 explosion killed Haley Singer, who was likely starting her morning with a microwaved bowl of oatmeal, according to the commission's report.
Firefighters miraculously found her daughter, Parker, in the rubble. Parker was treated for small cuts. She turned 1 year old Thursday.
Two key issues in the explosion remain unclear and may not be fully answered until after years of litigation:
• First, was propane flowing into the home because all three valves were open, or was the valve controlled by the switch inside malfunctioning?
• Second, why did the Singers not smell the propane beforehand?
Travis Singer removed the gas log from the fireplace and had used it a few times to burn actual wood, according to the state report. He told investigators that two days before the explosion, children were playing with the switch. He said he ensured that both the two manually controlled valves, as well as the switch, were off afterward. The couple smelled propane only briefly then.
The two-story wood-framed home at 801 Whispering Oaks Drive was built in 1996, but remodeled before the Singers moved in, according to the Bexar County Fire Marshal's report.
A tag on the valve controlled by the switch stated it should be installed horizontally, but it was vertical when the commission inspected it after the blast.
The Singers' 250-gallon propane tank, manufactured by Trinity Industries Inc., was not damaged. After the explosion, the commission conducted a sniff test and took a sample of the propane.
The investigators found they could smell it, and sent the sample to Bison Engineering.
Bison Engineering found the propane had more than the recommended amount of odorant, or 5.9 pounds of ethyl mercaptan per 10,000 gallons of propane. The National Fire and Protection Association recommends there be 1 pound of ethyl mercaptan per 10,000 gallons of propane.
When the Victoria Advocate asked two fire investigators not involved in this case to take a look at the commission's findings, they were stumped on both questions, too.
Elizabeth Jensen, a physicist and engineer with ACS Engineering & Consulting, of Houston, suspected that the switch to the fireplace valve was too low to the ground if children could get their hands on it. Fire safety standards vary depending on the community, though.
The Singers lived in the county, which does not have a building inspector.
Jensen also questioned the quality of the report because it was missing data, such as the manufacturer and serial number for the valve controlled by the switch, as well as a diagram of the piping system.
If the propane was leaking outside, that might explain why the Singers did not smell it. Still, because it was raining that day, the propane would have dissipated. It would have needed to pool underneath something like a porch, she said.
"The most likely probability is the gas pooled somewhere, but where it pooled, there's not enough information in this report to argue for one location versus another," Jensen said.
Jensen, who served as a firefighter about 20 years ago, also explained that if individuals are exposed to ethyl mercaptan - the odorant added to alert people to the dangerous gas - long enough they can become desensitized.
She said she didn't think that was likely in this case as the Singers would have been confronted by its rotten egg-like smell when they walked downstairs that morning. Propane is heavy and lays closer to the ground.
Victoria County Fire Marshal Ron Pray's investigation into the explosion is ongoing. He's using the National Fire and Protection Agency standards. With those standards, there are only four different causes he can choose from - incendiary, meaning the explosion was on purpose, natural, meaning it was caused by a lightning strike, accidental or undetermined.
Pray has ruled out incendiary and natural.
For the explosion to be considered accidental, Pray would have to explain what led to the explosion, which is tough to do, he said.
The State Fire Marshal's Office already has listed the cause of the explosion as undetermined.
Although Pray is waiting on some data and scans from the scene compiled by the Texas Rangers, he did offer additional theories about where the propane could have pooled and why the Singers couldn't smell it.
A heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit could have sucked the propane up and dispelled it into the three rooms to the right of the living room and fireplace. The residents may not have visited those rooms as frequently, he said.
Pray said some newer homes have propane fireplaces controlled in part by a switch, too. In newer construction, the switches are protected with a locked covering or controlled by a key.
The commission found two violations in this case. First, a nonmetallic gas hose was used to connect the outdoor gas piping to the fireplace, Ramona Nye, a spokeswoman for the agency, wrote via email.
Tom Sing Jr., a fire investigator with Quest Fire Analysis in Boerne, said metal or copper are preferred.
"The nonmetallic is dangerous because it can corrode a lot easier," he said.
The commission was unable to determine who installed the nonmetallic hose that was used to connect the outdoor gas piping to the fireplace, spokeswoman Gaye McElwain wrote via email.
The second violation was that, when Kellogg Propane Inc. delivered 200 gallons of propane on Jan. 15, 2014, it didn't test for a leakage.
McElwain pointed to a section of the Texas Administrative Code that says before filling a propane container, companies are required to conduct a visual inspection of the exposed, readily accessible areas of the container for any obvious defects. They must not introduce propane into a system that is unsafe or not installed according to the safety rules.
"Typically, vapor leaks in piping system are not visually identified, unless a liquid leak detection solution is applied to an area where a propane leak is suspected in a piping system," McElwain wrote. "If a leak is present, visible bubbles will accumulate around the leak. ... There are also electronic devices available to detect the presence of gas."
Kellogg Propane Inc. had been filling the Singers' above-ground propane tank, located 30 feet from the home, since at least 2003, according to sales receipts.
Keith Ethridge, owner of Kellogg Propane Inc., wrote to the commission on the day of the explosion that he couldn't find that any leak tests had been conducted at the Singers' home.
A driver with his company was last there March 10, filling the tank with 120 gallons of propane. In a statement to the commission, he wrote he visually inspected the tank and found that it had pressure on it before filling it Jan. 15, 2014.
The commission hasn't fined any company yet. McElwain wrote the maximum penalty allowed by statute is $10,000 per day per incident.
When levying a punishment, the commission considers the company's previous violations, the violation's seriousness, whether there was any hazard to the health or safety of the public and whether the company demonstrated good faith, according to the Texas Administrative Code.
Tommy Fagg, a Kellogg Propane Inc. employee, said the company heard from the commission about two weeks ago.
"We were not held responsible for anything that caused the explosion in that house," Fagg said.
Both Sing and Jensen said years of litigation lie ahead for the Singers and their neighbors also affected by the explosion.
Sing's company is finalizing its investigation into the 2011 Bastrop wildfire. He couldn't disclose what he thinks caused the wildfire because litigation is ongoing, for example.
Between 10 to 12 homes were significantly damaged in the Victoria explosion. Windows were shattered and debris filled lawns. The home closest to the Singers' received the brunt of it.
Who is responsible for which piping system will likely be worked out in court, Jensen said.
"There are lines that are drawn ... just like with an electric company, it gets the wiring that gets to your house. Then, once you get to the fuse box, that's the homeowner's responsibility," she said.
Jensen suspected that whoever manufactured the valve controlled by the switch inside would claim removing fake logs and replacing them with actual wood was dangerous.
"There's going to be a lot of finger-pointing, and you need to know where the actual explosion happened in order to settle that," she said.
"Hats off to those guys," Jensen added of the investigators' work. "They are doing what they can, but there's not much to work with."
Haley Singer's family declined to talk at length about the commission's findings.
"We are both very appreciative of the support that the community has shown. Travis said it is still very difficult for him to discuss" the incident, Haley Singer's mother, Mary Helen Barrick, said Friday. "I feel like I have a lot of unanswered questions."
———
©2015 Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas)
Visit Victoria Advocate (Victoria, Texas) at www.victoriaadvocate.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
