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What if my apartment randomly explodes?

M

Misty Avich

Hellooooooooooo!!!
V.I.P Member
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...d-after-gas-explosion-destroys-edinburgh-home
While my deepest sympathies go out to those people who were affected by the explosion, it's also now triggered off anxiety that it might happen to me or to people I love. I didn't know homes could just randomly explode like that without the help of a bomb (which wasn't the case here). I thought these days homes were equipped with trip switches and other technology like that that can isolate any potential hazards or risks of fire or explosions before they happen.

I wish I knew what caused this man's home to explode like that.
 
"A Scottish fire and rescue service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 10.26pm on Friday 1 December to reports of a gas explosion affecting residential properties on Baberton Mains Avenue in Edinburgh."

Looks like a classic gas explosion to me. I've seen a fair number of them as an insurance underwriter. Most appear as if a bomb went off. But in fact is likely just a gas leak that eventually ignited inside a closed space.

A common peril, given the exposure to one of the most common hazards: smoking. Also construction concerns involving a backhoe that ruptures a gas line because a contractor didn't secure the underground utilities guide happen more often as well. (It's inherently dangerous to dig deeply in a populated area without securing a copy of an underground utilities guide).

Arson is sometimes a possibility, but such criminal acts often leave telltale signs of the use of accelerants that fire investigators can easily determine.

If you ever smell gas, leave the area immediately and report it to the fire department.
 
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They add methyl mercaptan to gas so that it is easy to smell even a small leak. Not knowing details of this specific incident, I wouldn't speculate on its cause, but a completely random explosion without prior warning (like smelling the leak), is so unlikely it's not worth the worry.
 
Judge said:
If you ever smell gas, leave the area immediately and report it to the fire department.
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I had some crazy luck one time, I walked into a garage, hit the light switch and suddenly a flame just popped up out of thin air next to me. :fearscream: Then it burned and spread out for a moment towards the other end of the room and disappeard. I had a propane heater in there and the propane tank had been leaking all night, it was empty. But the door had been left open for a while before I walked in so the gas had dissipated and there was just a little left.
 
Forest Cat said:
I had a propane heater in there and the propane tank had been leaking all night, it was empty. But the door had been left open for a while before I walked in so the gas had dissipated and there was just a little left.
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Excellent example of gas in an open space as opposed to a closed one that is more likely to explode when ignited.

Glad nothing really happened. ;)
 
Misty Avich said:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...d-after-gas-explosion-destroys-edinburgh-home
While my deepest sympathies go out to those people who were affected by the explosion, it's also now triggered off anxiety that it might happen to me or to people I love. I didn't know homes could just randomly explode like that without the help of a bomb (which wasn't the case here). I thought these days homes were equipped with trip switches and other technology like that that can isolate any potential hazards or risks of fire or explosions before they happen.

I wish I knew what caused this man's home to explode like that.
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I don't think you need to worry, there are usually two things that makes homes blow up like that. Gas leaks and meth labs. So if no one is running a meth lab there, all you have to do is check the gas lines and connections now and then, if you have that. Making sure everything is maintaned and in good shape. And as someone else mentioned, you'll easily smell the gas if there is a problem.
 
I once lived in this massive modern apartment complex, where each and every unit had a gas stove. Great for cooking, but the fire exposure gave me the creeps. A whole lot of gas lines. Yet for all the years I lived there no such fires ever happened.

Apartments.jpg
 
They're phasing gas out in Australia now. It's not allowed to be installed in any new homes and they'll start systematically converting older homes sometime soon. Gas was never all that common in my state anyway although I have no idea why, most homes here are electric only, it's going to be a big job in the eastern states though.

They're promoting the public health and safety dangers of gas but it's also part of our environmental plans for the future, we're slowly phasing out fossil fuel mining too. I only found out the other day, we're a bigger fossil fuel supplier than the United Arab Emirates.
 
Well, if your apartment explodes you probably won’t know it; you’ll be dead before your brain can perceive what happened. So I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
 
Kalinychta said:
Well, if your apartment explodes you probably won’t know it; you’ll be dead before your brain can perceive what happened. So I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
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It might explode while I'm at work though, then I'll lose my husband and my pets.
 
Misty Avich said:
It might explode while I'm at work though, then I'll lose my husband and my pets.
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Oh that’s true. But any of us could die at any moment from any number of causes. We could be dead three seconds from now. We could choke on a fig, or a jet engine could fall out of the sky and land on our houses like in Donnie Darko. Spontaneous human combustion is also a possibility. You just never know, and it’s irrational to fixate on it - you’ll drive yourself crazy with anxiety.
 
If this is really worrying you then I'm sure you could obtain detectors that would warn you about a leak. As @Jumpinbare points out, they add chemicals to the gas to alert you if anything is untoward. It has a distinctive foul smell so you are likely to notice if there's a leak.

Other than that, make sure that any work conducted on your gas appliances are carried out by registered Gas Safe technicians/engineers. They are legally obligated to show their gas safe credentials and you can double check them on the gas safe website.

Some small things you can do is have you appliances tested and serviced regularly. Gas fires, ovens and boilers use systems to reduce the risk of leaks. One way they do this is by using a voltaic pile that has to be hot in order to allow gas to flow. This is why when you light your oven or gas fire you have to hold the dial in and trigger the piezoelectric ignition. When you hold in the dial it allows the pilot light to get started, this then heats up the voltaic pile and allows the gas to flow. If it blows out, the voltaic pile cools down and cuts off the gas supply.

So having this checked and kept in good order should prevent a pilot light going out and the gas continuing to flow.

Other than this, I remember the British Gas PSAs from the early 1980s quite well from the TV. They basically boil down to, if you smell gas, do not turn on or off any electric devices. Do not smoke (pretty obvious), leave the house, close and lock the door immediately and inform emergency services (dial 999). Don't open the door again, let the experts deal with it.

I think all you need is a little reassurance that domestic gas explosions are very rare. That's why they tend to make the headlines when they occur. Taking a couple of precautions should give you peace of mind I hope. I'm sure you are going to be perfectly safe :)

If you are renting, your landlord has a responsibility to have these checks done by the way! They should provide you with a copy of the annual Gas Safe certificate :-) Pretty sure its an A4 piece of pink paper.
 
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If I've learned anything about crippling anxiety, it's that hard facts rarely solve the issue. Because for the most part, it'll just latch onto the next-best crippling fear, even if it isn't even relevant at all. Anyone who's ever had nightmares about WWIII will tell you this, since some potential fears are just realistic possibilities that we need to contend with on a daily basis.

TBH, I've had this fear (plus the fear of sinkholes, which is a very real phenomenon where I live due to increasing infrastructure), and my best defense is just saying, "Well, I'd die. Probably too quickly to even notice." I mean, if it's an explosion, there's not going to be much to think about or feel for too long, and we all die eventually anyway. But of course, this is where professionals can help, since getting to the root of the anxiety itself is usually issue #1, not necessarily the current-fear-of-the-day.
 
The odds game... The chance of that happening is probably .0000000009%, you get the idea

Don't worry about probably will not happen, will probably not ever happen

Yes take sensible steps related to the use of natural gas in a house and other hazards, but do not worry

Perhaps easier said than done for those with anxiety issues, but something to work towards
 
Fino said:
I don't intend to downplay your fears, but I did laugh out loud when I read the thread title.
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Sometimes I laugh at my own anxieties. :sweatsmile:

But I've always had this habit where if something bad has happened in the news I immediately start worrying that it's going to happen to me.
 
Perhaps for some degree of "peace of mind": If you have gas connections within the home or outside the home, take a little spray bottle with a mix of dish soap and water, spray it on the connections. No bubbles = no leak. If there are bubbles, get a wrench and tighten up the connection yourself, or contact your gas provider and have a technician tighten them up for you.
 
Misty Avich said:
Sometimes I laugh at my own anxieties. :sweatsmile:

But I've always had this habit where if something bad has happened in the news I immediately start worrying that it's going to happen to me.
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As everyone else has said in one way or another, homes don't randomly explode. Gas explodes. One way to mitigate this is to pay a suitably qualified person to check it out.

This is why landlords are required by law in the UK to get gas installations checked at least once every 12 months.

Get it regularly checked and there's nothing to worry about.

British Gas sell a Homecare service which limits repair costs and includes an annual check-up and service.
 
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