Firefighters knocked on victim's door shortly before Somerset blast

I am the only house in a small subdivision of 70 homes with oil instead of gas....it has always made me very nervous and when I built my home, I requested oil. I don't get it, when there is a notice of 'gas odor' and the gas company comes, shouldn't the first thing they do is sound some kind of alarm from their truck, warning residents to get out of their homes while they investigate? If I recall correctly, there have been 3 of these incidents lately (with 2 deaths) all of which where there was an 'odor of gas' being investigated.

This is the second explosion due to gas since the start of this year. Maybe it's time the Globe start an investigation of the gas company.

Bill Moyers had a program on PBS on November 21, 2008 about natural gas explosions in Texas: that aging equipment connecting homeowners' gaslines to their gas meters was failing, causing horrific explosions. Shipp found evidence suggesting that for decades state regulators and local power companies ignored this fatal problem in the vital infrastructure that brings natural gas into hundreds of thousands of Dallas area homes. Is that what is happening here?

Way too many homes in MA have been destroyed and our citizens killed. Where is the government to ensure the gas company maintains lines and doesn't murder any more citizens?

Hold the gas company officials legally responsible for their defective service and murder!

Who's home is next?

This is horrific and COULD and SHOULD have been prevented by the GAS Company who SHOULD have shut off the gas. If the smell was that Obvious to passerbys in the neighborhood- it should have been shut off Immediately. So sorry to this family. What a sad story - my heart goes out to the daughter and other family members of this poor woman and her dog.

Why wasn't the gas turned off after the overwhelming smell of gas had been reported? Obviously officials also smelled the gas as houses were being evacuated.

Unbelievable. What is going on here? I called the gas company Tuesday night due to a very faint odor of gas at the foot of my driveway - I don't even have gas service to my house. It took the gas company more than an hour of "sweeping" the street to finally find 2 leaks 2 houses down from me. One of the leaks was an "emergency" and was repaired immediately - it was a foot from my neighbor's garage door. If you smell even an extremely faint odor, as I did - call immediately.
- Sticking with oil in Lynn

It seems we have seen a number of gas leak explosions in eastern Mass recently. This may indicate the natural gas infrastructure, in some areas, is in need of replacement - and soon. I doubt the natural gas suppliers like National Grid and N. E. Gas will spend the money needed to prevent future explosions unless the public (and the state legislature) demands it.

There was a nauseating smell of gas in the neighborhood and over one hour passed between notifying authorities and the blast. The gas company was evacuating people. Why, oh why, was the gas not turned off in that period of time? There was enough time to start evacuations but not to turn off the gas? A woman is dead due to what appears significant incompetence and perhaps, criminal neglect.

Isn't anybody concerned that this is the third such incident in the last several months?? What the H is going on?? We use gas in our house, and needless to say this definitely makes me more than a little skittish.

If there are any more of these incidents I do think it's time for a Globe "Spotlight" investigation. Something is clearly wrong with the system when houses are exploding and people are dying or getting severely injured.

I echo all of your comments. I am especially nervous because I live about a half mile from where the explosion took place. It makes me wonder if the gas lines in front of my house are in any better shape.

All I know, the first scent of natural gas on or around my property and I'm leaving until it is taken care of. The Gas Company better get their act together and start analyzing and fixing gas lines if needed. We can't afford to wait until they fail!!

I've called the gas company 4 times in the last 4 months regarding odor of gas in my neighborhood. I too don't have gas. They have come out and done work to the streets, checked my house yet still the gas odor is there almost every single night. When I asked when it was to be repaired, they told me it was a low priority and no matter how many times I call it will never be repaired. How can that be an acceptable answer? I wonder how many of these neighborhoods who've had these explosions in the last year have had answers just like this from national grid, I mean, "gas" company. I now will be calling the Fire Department the next time and every time I smell in it hopes that they will be able to escalate this further than me and that the next explosion will not be in my neighborhood (Wayland-near Dudley Pond, please call if you smell it too).

It is ridiculous. I cant believe the amount of home explosions due to gas. I remember calling national grid to come ( formerly keyspan ) and take a look at my gas pipes to ensure they were ok. They said "Oh we dont do that, you have to call a plumber". So then I called back and told them I smelled gas and they came out within the hour and sure enough there was a pin-hole leak downstairs. I dont know how many more explosions and deaths they need to actually do something and be proactive to prevent this from happening!
It frightens me that they dont take the gas as seriously as they should. To come in and inspect the pipes should be something they should do yearly to every home that has gas, it would probably prevent home explosions from ever happening. They surely dont have a problem spiking up the gas bill.......

The freeze-thaw cycle, old equipment, weak procedures...a recipe for domestic disaster.

If you can smell gas (technically the substance mercaptan added to gas, since it's otherwise odorless) you have a problem. If you are in your house, open all the windows and doors, get as much fresh air as possible circulating and make the call from somewhere else. Call the FD and call the gas company. Do we need another preventable disaster?

I live in Wilmington, only one neighbor I know has gas but it's right across the street from me, I called the gas company and they drove by but didn't stop when I smelled gas. The gas line (main) is right outside at the end of my driveway and I'm very scared that my house will blow up if nothing is done. I think this is craziness.

What is going to be done?

My husband wants us to switch to gas (it'll be cheaper he says). Cheaper than what? Losing your house, your property, and your life? This is a discouraging story because it is becoming so commonplace. It seems I read about an exploding house at least once a month. Are the gas utilities shielded somehow from prosecution on this issue? As the other posters point out, how hard can it be to turn off the gas to the neighborhood while they investigate the leak? It seems to me like they leave the gas on until the house blows so they can say "Aha, we've found the leak". Inspector Clousseau, where are you?

I believe the gas leaks are often in the street pipes and even if you only have a gas stove it can follow the space around the pipe into your house. I suspect that even if you don't have gas at all it could find a tree root or some other ground fault type crack into your house.

there was also a gas explosion at a Northeastern dormitory in spring 2005. A gas company was working behind the building. Luckily no one was killed. There is becoming a serious issue in Massachusetts... we need to make sure the gas companies are doing proper work and not putting lives at risk.

There are a lot of really good comments here and I hope someone who has some power reads them.

This seems to happen here in New England a lot more than back in Nebraska where I grew up (with almost everyone else who had natural gas as a heating source). I know there are more houses here, but something is wrong with all these exposions.

Even if you don't have gas, if there's a leak in the street it can follow the water and / or sewer lines into your house.

My brother had oil heat and while in the basement checking the odor of gas, the house blew up.He had a protracted painful death in MGH.There had been street repairs,the ground was frozen and the gas was unable to escape upward through the soil and followed the water pipes into his home.
Mrs Rebello is in a better place without all of the suffering.God bless her.
Uxbridge 1978.

nice job everyone - gas company - firefighters. keep up the good work

Sorry to read about this. If you want the gas company to actually shut the gas off , well, that costs money, and you know , the boards and the shareholders of these utilities have to make money. X number of houses blowing up is acceptable, as long as the company returns Y number of dollars to shareholders each quarter.

Emergency shut offs are an "extra", so if you want that service, just give a call to your friendly gas company, and they'll be happy to add another line item to your bill.

A tragedy without doubt. But just to clarify one thing. When there is too little of gas in an area its not explosive, and when there is too much of gas in an area it will also not explode, this is called the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) and Upper explosive limit (UEL). I believe that it is around 5%-15% for the LEL and UEL, which means that if there is between 5% and 15% of gas in an area it is considered explosive.
I completely agree that it seems to be happening too often lately, but if the gas company (which I DO NOT work for) shuts off a main of any kind, then every household that the main is feeding, every one with gas appliances is affected, and the winter is not a good time to be without heat, hot water, or a stove. They also have to check everyone's appliances when they are finished. In no way am I defending the gas company, just thought this information might be of use.

Somewhere along the line it seems that someone was misinformed... The gas company did NOT tell people to evacuate before the explosion, as the article states. That is untrue. They knocked on doors because they were trying to find the specific location of the problem. The fire department was aware of the problem, but the gas company said they had it under control and did not need their assistance.

There has been a gas leak out on Rte 2A between Hanscom and Crosby's Corner now for two years...has never been addressed and I smell it every time I drive by...unbelievable!

If a strong gas smell was reported just at the home of this woman, you might understand why the gas company didn't shut off the gas to the neighborhood. Since the smell was reported to be in the general neighborhood, it's hard to figure out why shutoff wasn't the first option.

Then again, I have no idea where a "shutoff" would occur, or whether it would have helped in this case. Do gas lines have shutoffs at the end of certain blocks? That should be a big question here... where are the shutoffs possible, and how many are there? Seems like an important question to be answered.

I am amazed at the amount of stupidity in the world.
Why is everyone blaming the gas company? Let's put things in perspective. There is a gas leak, gas company responds, they tried to evacuate, she did not respond. They have by this time summonsed the street crew after determining the where the leak could be while they have now tried to evacuate, summonsed the street crew they are also in the process of trying to get the leak under control, now for those of you that think they have a big magic button in their trucks that can shut the main gas line down, sorry you are wrong. Of course a huge concern in the winter is cracking gas lines with the cold weather and in response to that a truck that drives around day in and day out monitoring for gas leaks (I am sure that you have seen them they have the crazy looking white funnels hanging off the bumpers), but do you know another reason for cracking gas lines is the carelessness (or shall I say stupidity) of PEOPLE! People that dig without permits and guess what in the end a big problem, not the gas company's fault.
They risk their lives everyday to make sure that you are safe in your home and it goes completely unrecognized and it is unfair. They are on call 7 days a week and sometimes work around the clock in the bitter cold and on the hottest days to fix leaks and any kind of problems.