Large Underground Explosion Creates MA Hazmat Incident

Aug. 19, 2020

An Ashland Fire Department hazardous materials team was called in after a carbon dioxide leak caused a sizeable explosion beneath a town business, forcing multiple home evacuations as a precaution.

By Jackson Cote

Source MassLive.com, Springfield, Mass.

An Ashland, MA, Fire Department hazardous materials team responded to a large underground explosion Tuesday.

An explosion beneath a fire equipment company in Ashland that forced multiple people to evacuate their homes Tuesday evening was caused by a carbon dioxide leak, officials said.

Authorities responded around 6:20 p.m. to “numerous 9-1-1 calls” about a large explosion at Kidde Fenwal, a business on Main Street, according to the town’s police department.

“Firefighters immediately checked for injured workers, began searches of adjacent buildings and conducted air monitoring to avoid a secondary explosion. A Tier-1 Hazardous Materials incident was declared,” the department said in a Facebook post.

Carbon dioxide was leaking from a ruptured supply line at the company, which prompted the blast and subsequent hazmat response, the Ashland Fire Department said.

Residents on Brook Street as well as Columbus and Leland avenues were evacuated from their homes as a precaution, the department said.

The blast occurred in an underground service line to a production warehouse from a carbon dioxide storage tank, according to officials.

Because the tank was unable to be shut down, it was vented freely into the atmosphere and safely drained, authorities noted.

Nobody was injured, and there was no immediate threat to the community, the fire department said.

The explosion remains under investigation.

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