One reported dead in Somerset house explosion

Is it jsut me, or has this been happening a lot lately?

Seriously. This has been happening a lot. I am freaked out. I have a detector for Natural Gas in my basement, but I am sure that is just more to make me feel better and it probably can't help me. What can a person do? Other than not use Natural Gas at all, that is...although the guy from the last explosion had oil, so there goes that theory, too.

Its crazy i dont live in the exact area, but i live about 3/4's of a mile away from the exploision and i heard it hear as well, it sounded like a bomb. My house shook completely that far away from it. I can't even imagine how load it was right next to it felt like a eaarthquake over here

We heat our home with gas. Does anyone know if the lines and connections should be checked periodically? We purchased it three years ago. Thanks.

Seems like this is the 3rd or 4th in a couple of month!

Seems to me that when there's an "overwhelming smell of gas" that there should be serious intervention - not some cursory "check". The scent that's added to natural gas is added for a reason - so you can detect it! What's the matter with the people that us average Joe's depend on to take care of these things. Another tragedy that could have been possibly averted if someone, just someone, bothered to pay attention to the obvious warning signs. My condolences to the family.

We live in Dighton - about 5 miles away and it shook our house as well as the neighbors

Don't Blame the gas company yet did anyone think that it could be suicide,
all it takes is someone to cause a leak, and in a hour or two make a phone
call. A phone call could ignite a gas filled atmosephere.

All of these comments are right on the mark, esp. HD#6. The fact that the responsible authorities came, observed the situation, and did not intervene is extremely disquieting, to say the least. I don't feel safe.

If you smell gas CALL 911.

I love how Natural gas is marketed as 'clean and safe'. Anything that can cause a house to explode is not safe. And I say this as a gas customer. If I could afford to switch, I would.

Why are these cases not being investigated?

My parents bought a brand new house in that neighborhood in 1964 and were told that gas would be safe and there would never be a problem. Well guess what. Nobody thought about crumbling infrastructure. This is happening way too often. Lexington, Gloucester, New Bedford, Somerset just to name a few recent gas explosions around the state. The gas company was just there 1 hour before. No problems found? A woman dies. What a shame. A very sad night for my old 'hood.

Type your comment here...ok first off I can't believe someone would think that it was suicide. She is a family member of mine and the gas leak was out front of her house in the street!!! This keeps happening over and over again all across the state. Something needs to be done. And people should be blaming the people that are at fault not on the victim.

To "upset"....so sorry to hear of the loss of your family member. That whole neighborhood is such a wonderful area of town. Friends of ours live on Connecticut Ave for about 15 yrs and they have had "gas" issues in the past. Hopefully this can be investigated and another fatality can be averted.

give me a breaker who ever wrote that comment on suicide. you must be asick person to even think that. my condolences go out to the family. that was such a tragdey that could have been prevented if only the gas was shut off when they seen the leak in the road and smelled the ordor of gas which was one before the explosion. i blame the gas company .

Okay i live in Dighton and all of my friends heard it and called me saying " Did you hear that boom?"Well I did! The weird thing is a fire truck drove by our house with no sirens on and after it left our street the explosion took place. The fatality is horrible. Something needs to be done before more innocent peoples lives are given away.

Also my opinion is why does the news have to show the daughter of the person in the house crying after hearing the news. It is twisted. Can't people accept that a person died her family member is finding it out and all you care about is broadcasting it! Get real. Put her in your shoes. I'm only twelve and I know better then that. All the News has become is entertainment when it should inform.

"Columbine" you say to call 911 if you smell gas. i'd like to add-- get out of the house and THEN call 911. as the idiot that said it was suicide mentioned... phones CAN ignite gas. i do agree with everyone that the authorities need to revisit how they handle these situations and what can be done to prevent them in the future.

I also live just 2 miles from the explosion and my house shook. My father works for the gas company and some employees were sent out to the area to find the gas leak. moments before the explosion 2 employees were in front of the house that had exploded. they knocked on the door of the house but no one came to the door. as they walked just out of the drive way to look around the house had exploded. its not like they werent attempting to shut off the gas its just they were too late. its a tradgity and if they had arrived sooner it may have been prevented. however if they had remained standing in the driveway or had the woman answered the door, there could have been more fatalities. my condolences go out to the family.

I live in Berkley MA, roughly 13 miles away from Americana Terrace where the explosion took place. We heard the explosion here, and my house shook pretty hardcore. I do agree that the gas company should be considered at fault having "OK'd" an investigation practically moments before the incident. My heart goes out to the victim/s and to those who will suffer from the tragedy, and with the amount of gas explosions in the past 2 months in this state alone, I hope we see something done to prevent any more. People are in fear.

Why was the woman allowed to be in her house if there was such a menacing problem?

I grew up on Vermont Ave over 25 years ago and live in NH now. I just heard this on NECN, can't even believe it. I thought when the smell of gas was so strong, you called 911 and got out of the house. I'm wondering why the neighborhood wasn't told to evacuate. So shocked and so sad for those poor people.

....We now know what a gas leak can look like, what would an LNG explosion look like?

A lot of people keep saying how the people were stupid to stay in their house and not call 911 and all that. People DID report the smell of gas and were told it was safe to stay in their homes and that the problem was being fixed. Instead of posting comments and trying to point fingers, let's talk about what we, as citizens can do to ensure that this won't happen again and do something about the (possible) inefficient manner in which this situation was handled. It's not about blaming people or putting people down, it's about coming together to support each other and figuring out what exactly happened and what can be done to prevent this from happening again.

My deepest sympathies to the families involved. I agree with trying to figure out a better way so that this doesn't happen in the future.