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HOME'S
WATER HEATER
EXPLODES,
HURTLES 135 YARDS
August 14, 2008
by Thomas
Demane and Matt Culbertson
for 12 News and azcentral.com
A water heater that apparently
had its pressure valve shut exploded and
hurtled 135 yards Thursday morning, causing “catastrophic
damage” to the Phoenix home, authorities
said.
No injuries were reported,
and the house's sole occupant was unharmed.
At about 5:40 a.m., the
water heater was blown out of a garage
near Thunderbird Road and 38th Street.
The damaged home will most likely have
to be torn down, authorities said.
It
appeared that the homeowner and the man
renting the house had been trying to fix
the water heater, which may have contributed
to the heater being launched across Thunderbird
Road and landing near a bus stop, Phoenix
Fire Captain Sam Richardson said.
The
man inside the home had been renting the
house for only about 12 days. Damage to
dental equipment he had in the home may
be in the tens of thousands of dollars,
Richardson said.
Foul play was ruled out,
and the incident appeared to be accidental,
he said. However, due to the destructive
nature of the blast — which
also caused minor damage to several nearby
homes — the Phoenix police Bomb
Squad and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
and Firearms were on the scene as investigators
worked to find what caused the explosion.
Richardson said the aftermath of the explosion
left the house “leaning” to
one side.
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photo by Matt Culbertson/The
Arizona Republic
Jake Brown was sleeping in his
room across the street from the house
when the explosion occurred.
“All
I heard was a big boom and my window
shattering,” said Brown, 16. “It
shook the whole house.”
Brown
said he originally thought a car had
crashed into his house. He added that
if he had not had his window blinds,
the shattered glass might have hit him.
The man inside the home said the explosion “felt
like an earthquake,” according
to Richardson.
Bill Lee, a salesman
with California-based Water Heaters
Only, Inc, said water-heater explosions
are extremely rare, adding that he has
only heard of one other similar incident
in his 10-year career. Lee said the
explosions usually involve both operator
error and a technical malfunction within
the tank.
“(The safety valve)
should activate at some point way before
(the heater) turns into a missile,” he
said. He added that homeowners should
check their water-heater safety valve
at least once each year.
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Source:
http://www.azcentral.com/
community/phoenix/articles/
2008/08/14/20080814
kpnx-waterheater.html
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