Zippy-The-Pinhead wrote:
IkeSouth wrote:
a subcontractor was digging and they hit a 4" gas main... must have split it wide open. 6:20 they called the fire department for a gas leak, and everyone was evacuated they could find, and like 6:35 it blew up. The fireman that died seems to be the fire chief (from people who i talked to). a few other servicemen and civilians in the hospital. something like 6 buildings gone and all windows on the downtown strip blown out. i am down there a few times a week, i loved the barr house. was built in 1886, its insane to see it disappear like that. glass nickel completely engulfed in flames too, they had the best food in town.
We were at the Chocolate Caper across the street from the Barr House on Saturday. Did it sustain any damage?
that building is still standing but all the windows were blown out. very likely sustained structural damage too.
from what it looks like, the barr house had the fuel-air bomb mixture, and thats what actually exploded (theres nothing left), and it appears the blast was somewhat contained to the east because that whole side was brick with almost no windows.
The front of the building was all windows, so it funneled the blast right across the street to glass nickel, and ignited it immediately. If anyone ever been into GN you know its all ancient wood in there... it burned really quickly.
The fireman that died is confirmed the owner of the Barr house. He was the also the captain of SP fire department. I have a feeling he was inside the building trying to get personal belongings out, because everyone else was well evacuated from the area... .