MEC&F Expert Engineers

Friday, May 26, 2017

Massive fire at Sundance Chevrolet in Grand Ledge, Michigan destroys about 30 vehicles and the used car building








Grand Ledge, Michigan

 
UPDATE: 12:30 PM

Terry Hanks, owner of Sundance Chevrolet in Grand Ledge, tells News 10 Tuesday that he does plan to rebuild his car dealership. He says the dealership located on Saginaw Highway is open for business. 


The Grand Ledge Fire Department continues to investigate the fire. A cause has not been determined yet.


Stay with wilx.com and watch News 10 tonight for updates.




UPDATE: 6:00 AM


We're told that Sundance Chevrolet will be open for business today. They are moving some of their operations to the Fraser building. Grand Ledge Fire Chief Rodney Vandecastelle says no one was injured. The used car building, also known as 'The Log Cabin' is a total loss. 20-30 cars have been damaged or destroyed. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Fire crews are on the scene of a large fire at the Sundance Chevrolet car dealership in Grand Ledge. A general manager for the dealership tells News 10 the used car building caught fire around 11:30 Wednesday night. 


He says the building is likely a total loss, and 20-30 cars have been damaged or destroyed. Saginaw Highway between Nixon Rd. and Charlevoix Dr. remains closed down. This is a developing story. Stay with News 10 for updates.



=====================



GRAND LEDGE, MI - A large overnight fire Wednesday destroyed an office building and about 30 vehicles at Sundance Chevrolet in Grand Ledge, one of the largest used car dealerships in the country.

The business had reopened by 8 a.m. Thursday. “We are going to make it work," said John Viselli, general manager of the dealership.

Viselli got a call around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday that the bunkhouse was on fire. The building, which held sales offices and resembled a log cabin, was fully engulfed by the time he arrived.

The structure, at 5895 E. Saginaw Highway, was a frequent backdrop in the dealership's well-known commercials. It was built about three years ago in the style of a log cabin lodge, Viselli said.

All that remained Thursday morning was the concrete foundation and a small portion of one wall. Dozens of charred cars lined the structure, and bits of white firefighting foam floated up from the basement.

What remains of an office building at Sundance Chevrolet in Grand Ledge on Thursday, May 25, 2017 after an overnight fire. The fire destroyed an office building and some 30 vehicles at the dealership. Julia Nagy/Lansing State Journal

Nobody was injured in the blaze, Grand Ledge Fire Department Chief Rodney VanDeCasteele said.

The building was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived, so firefighters took a defensive posture to keep the fire from spreading, he said. They left the scene around 5 a.m.

It will likely take several days to investigate the cause, VanDeCasteele said.

"It’s going to be very meticulous, very slow," he said. "Everything fell into the basement... It will probably be a fairly long, involved ordeal."
'Just another hump in the business'

Terry Hanks, the dealership's colorful 76-year-old owner, already had plans Thursday morning to get moving on a new, improved dealership.

"We sell 25 cars a day," he said, wearing his trademark tan Stetson cowboy hat. "It's just going to be a little tougher."

Hanks, his daughter Terrah Hanks, and a group of Amish carpenters were assessing the damage fewer than 12 hours after fire trucks first arrived. Terry Hanks said he wants to hire up to 18 Amish carpenters from Vermontville to rebuild the structure.

The cause of the overnight fire, as of 10 a.m. Thursday, was unknown and still under investigation, he said.

There was no sprinkler system in the bunkhouse.

"They would have let you run a sprinkler system but it wouldn't have done any good," Hanks said. "When you get a lumbered building like that it's pretty tough, it's pretty tough."

"I don't know how this occurred because (the building) is almost brand new," he said. "It's only two, three years old. It seems like if there was an electrical difficulty that one of the fuses would've went out."

Hanks designed the bunkhouse as a comfortable meeting space for employees and customers, he said. It was also a hub for tracking Sundance's online vehicle auctions.

"Usually you look at a building and you think 'Geez, if I had to do this all over again I do this and that a little bit different," Hanks said. "This (bunkhouse) is what we were looking for, a more comfortable way to buy a car."

"It didn't feel like or look like a dentist office."

The building housed up to 40 workstations for Sundance employees and keys for up to 900 used cars, he said. All were destroyed.

A locksmith was busy making keys for the cars Thursday, as staff members wrote down vehicle identification numbers for those that needed keys.

Key machines that were inside the bunkhouse were "cooked," Hanks said. The dealership can get keys for some General Motors cars from the automaker, but other types of cars, especially imports, don't have replacements unless they are made.

"We've got to see how fast we can get these keys made," Hanks said. "That's going to be one of the bigger messes."

Another challenge for the dealership will be finding — or in some cases copying — titles for nearly 1,000 used vehicles. Hanks said titles were stored in a secured box in the bunkhouse's basement.

Workers were trying to find the box Thursday amidst the rubble.

Colt Hanks, Terry Hanks' 19-year-old son, a sales representative at the dealership, said there's no doubt his father will go all in to get Sundance back to full strength.

Colt Hanks said the dealership has enough room, salespeople and resources to "push on from here no questions asked."

Last year Sundance sold 1,700 used and 5,600 new cars. The "new car" side of the business remains largely unaffected, Terry Hanks said.

"It's just another hump in the business," Hanks said. "If this business was easy everybody would do it. It's something you sure as hell hate to hear. It's a situation where you just got to stop, keep it simple, clean it up and get somebody to rebuild it."

And while the bunkhouse is gone, he said Sundance's colorful commercials will likely shift locales, to the Sundance Riding Stables a few miles away.

Colt Hanks joked with his dad that he probably would have "about 30 one-liners" to use in future commercials.

"My dad is one of those guys who doesn't get fazed too easily," he said. "You can shoot him in the leg and he'll start walking."

3 Toms River School District buses go up in flames overnight in New Jersey



TOMS RIVER, NJ


Authorities are investigating the cause of a fire that consumed multiple school buses in New Jersey overnight.

Dramatic photos from the scene show at least two buses completely engulfed in flames. Toms River police say three buses were extensively damaged by the 2:40 a.m. fire on the south side of Route 37; a pickup truck had minor damage.


Officials say a police officer was on patrol along the highway when he smelled smoke. He searched the area and found the vehicles ablaze. Firefighters from two local companies responded and doused the flames.

Police say the damaged vehicles are owned by the Toms River School District and were inside the transportation area at the time they caught fire. Officers remained at the scene Friday morning. Their investigation is ongoing. 


THE FIRE RISK OF SCHOOL BUS


During the five-year period of 1999-2003, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 2,210 bus or school bus fires per year. These fires caused an estimated annual average of three civilian deaths, 30 civilian injuries, and $24.2 million in direct property damage per year. In 1999-2003, bus or school bus fires accounted for 1% of the total reported vehicle fires, 1% of the vehicle fire deaths, 2% of the vehicle fire injuries, and 2% of the vehicle fire property damage. On average, six bus or school bus fires were reported every day.

Buses present a unique combination of heavy work cycles and the use of various aftermarket electrical accessories that place them at risk for fires. An important step in preventing future incidents is in understanding what has caused fires in the past. The causes of bus fires generally fall into three distinct categories: electrical, friction at the wheel level, and engine component failures. Many of these incidents could have been prevented with an improved maintenance and inspection program.

Following the electrocution death of plumber David Dufresne Jr., 52, last year, Blomberg and Summit electric ranges, manufactured by Arçelik A.S. of Turkey, recalled. The electric ranges can become energized because a screw was not installed to secure the grounding strap during manufacturing, posing electric shock and electrocution hazards.







PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) -- The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the voluntary recall of 6,300 electric stoves in connection with the electrocution death of a plumber last year.  


 

In August 2016, David Dufresne Jr., 52, a professional plumber from Portsmouth, N.H., died while installing a dishwasher.


The recall is for Blomberg and Summit electric ranges, which the commission says can become energized, posing electric shock and electrocution hazards. The recall notice states a screw wasn't installed to secure the grounding strap during manufacturing.

The rangers were manufactured by Arçelik A.S. of Turkey. They were imported by Beko of Bolingbrook, Ill.


The announcement references the Aug. 2016, death of a 52-year-old New Hampshire plumber who was electrocuted while installing a dishwasher.

The stoves are described as Blomberg BERU 24200 SS, BERU 24100 SS and Summit CLRE24 24-inch wide freestanding glass top electric ranges that were sold in stainless steel and black.

For more information call Arçelik toll-free at (877) 271-1489 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or online at blombergappliances.us and click on Recall Information.


=============

Recall Details

Description:
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Arçelik A.S. of Turkey and Beko US, of Bolingbrook, Ill. are announcing the voluntary recall of about 6,300 Blomberg and Summit brand freestanding electric ranges. The electric ranges can become energized because a screw was not installed to secure the grounding strap during manufacturing, posing electric shock and electrocution hazards.

In August 2016, a 52-year-old professional plumber from Portsmouth, New Hampshire died from electrocution when he came in contact with an energized range and a grounded object.

This recall involves Blomberg BERU 24200 SS, BERU 24100 SS and Summit CLRE24 24-inch wide freestanding glass top electric ranges. The ranges were sold in stainless steel and black. A label on the lower frame of the range inside the over door has the brand name “Blomberg” or “Summit,” the model name and number BERU 24200 SS, BERU 24100 SS or CLRE24 and a 10-digit serial number. Serial numbers included in the recall are:

12 XXXXXX XX
15 XXXXXX XX
16 XXXXXX 03
16 XXXXXX 06
13 XXXXXX XX
16 XXXXXX 01
16 XXXXXX 04
16 XXXXXX 07
14 XXXXXX XX
16 XXXXXX 02
16 XXXXXX 05
16 XXXXXX 08

The ranges were sold by AJ Madison, State Street Discount and other stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com from October 2012 through March 2017 for between $1,000 and $1,500.

They were manufactured by Arçelik A.S. in Turkey.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled ranges, and avoid all direct contact with the product until the electricity supply is shut off. Consumers should contact Arçelik A.S. to schedule a free on-site inspection and repair.
Contact Arçelik toll-free at 877-271-1489 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or online at www.blombergappliances.us and click on Recall Information at the bottom of the page.
 
Remedy:
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled ranges and avoid touching the range until electricity to the range is turned off at the fuse box. Consumers should contact the firm to schedule a free on-site inspection and repair.
Recall number:
17-159
 ==================


Plumber’s electrocution death in Portsmouth, NH





Thursday Posted Aug 18, 2016 at 10:45 AM Updated Aug 18, 2016 at 2:50 PM



By Elizabeth Dinan
edinan@seacoastonline.com


PORTSMOUTH – Police have confirmed a Rochester plumber died of an accidental electrocution while working in the McIntosh condominium building on Fleet Street Tuesday and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

Detective Sgt. John Peracchi said the police investigation into the death of self-employed plumber David Dufresne Jr., 52, is complete. Further investigation will be conducted by OSHA, he said.

David Dufresne Jr., a 52-year-old self-employed NH plumber was electrocuted on Aug. 18, possibly when a copper line came in contact with the cord of an improperly installed electric stove

First responders were first notified about Dufresne’s death on Aug. 18 at 8:13 a.m. by a 911 caller, Deputy Fire Chief Carl Roediger said Tuesday. According to the public police log, the fatal accident occurred on the sixth floor inside apartment number 2. Roediger said it appeared Dufresne was installing a dishwasher at the time.

Rose Ohar, OSHA’s regional director, said her office opened an investigation after learning about Dufresne’s death.

“Electrocution is one of our top hazards for fatalities around the country,” she said. “So we’re taking a close look.”

Ohar said OSHA does not have jurisdiction over “sole proprietors,” in other words private property, but is investigating anyway.

KILLER ROADS: the 400-mile highway that runs through the centers of Modesto, Merced, Fresno and other Valley cities is the deadliest in the nation.










Two fiery crashes this week on Highway 99 add to road’s deadly history in the Valley




By Brianna Calix

bcalix@mercedsunstar.com


Two explosive fires erupted this week after big rigs overturned on Highway 99, a stretch of road in the San Joaquin Valley that in a report last year was named the deadliest highway in the nation.

A tanker truck carrying about 9,000 gallons of gasoline overturned and burst into flames Tuesday after rushing off Highway 99 in Atwater, triggering several explosions. The driver, 57-year-old Kamkyo Ramon Gnotsavath of Hughson, was killed. Witnesses told investigators the truck already may have been on fire when it left the highway, authorities said.

The next day, a big rig carrying liquid cleaning solution struck a guardrail, jackknifed and caught fire. The flames spread to the dry grass near the Highway 152 interchange, just south of Chowchilla. Several roads were closed for hours, but no one was injured.
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While it remains unclear whether road conditions or the highway itself played any role, the crashes this week add to the road’s history of deadly troubles.

In 2016, a report by consumer-data analysts at ValuePenguin named the 400-mile highway that runs through the centers of Modesto, Merced, Fresno and other Valley cities as the deadliest in the nation.

At least three deadly crashes were reported in 2016 on Highway 99, between Livingston and Merced. A retired Merced County court commissioner died in a crash on the freeway near Atwater in June. A passenger bus carrying travelers from Mexico crashed in August last year on Highway 99, between Livingston and Atwater. A school teacher and her son also lost their lives about a month later near Westside Boulevard when the woman’s Lexus crossed the center divide and collided with oncoming traffic.

A total of 264 fatal crashes were reported on that stretch of Highway 99 between 2011 and 2015, the group reported. ValuePenguin culled the data from the National Traffic and Highway Safety Administration database. Fifty of those involved drunken driving, the study showed.

California highway officials have spent about $1 billion on safety and efficiency improvements on Highway 99 during the past 10 years, using some of the $20 billion in infrastructure bonds approved by state voters in 2006 under Proposition 1B. At the time, state officials said the old highway was outdated, with narrow shoulders, tight ramps and under-sized interchanges. Improvement work has been ongoing since then.

Recently, Caltrans completed a $3 million project to install a median guardrail on Highway 99 from Atwater to Winton Parkway in Livingston.

Caltrans has an upcoming project to widen the highway from two lanes to three in each direction in Livingston.

“Certainly when we do a new project like that, we include the most up-to-date safety features that we can,” said Warren Alford, a Caltrans spokesman. “I think folks should feel confident that State Route 99 is getting safer all the time.”

Many took to social media Tuesday and Wednesday, complaining that the Applegate Road exit is poorly designed, noting the signage calls for traffic to slow to 25 mph on the winding exit.

Skip Allum, a spokesman for Caltrans, noted the exit has multiple signs warning drivers to slow down, including blinking lights and road markings.

“It’s pretty well marked,” he said.

Alford confirmed Caltrans is not aware of any safety issues at that location.

Gnotsavath’s Class A license was valid on Tuesday when he drove the 2008 Peterbilt tanker for Williams Tank Lines. In 2015, he had one speeding violation, DMV records show.

Williams employs 450 drivers for 203 trucks, records with the Federal Motors Carrier Safety Administration show. In the last two years, Williams’ drivers have been involved in two fatal crashes and five injury crashes, FMCSA records show. The records do not determine whether the Williams’ drivers were at fault in any of those crashes.

A Williams Tank Lines truck veered off Highway 99 and overturned near Modesto in November, spilling thousands of gallons of gas onto the roadway and forcing road closures for 14 hours.

In a 2015 incident near Santa Barbara, the truck Gnotsavath drove on Tuesday was parked off the roadway when a woman driving a minivan crashed into it and another parked tractor-trailer. The Williams-owned truck was towed away, reports show. The woman died from the collision.

FMCSA issued Williams a “satisfactory” safety rating in 2014, the most recent rating reported on the website.

The cause of Tuesday’s crash in Atwater has not been determined officially. Officer Eric Zuniga, a spokesman for CHP, said investigators were working to piece together a 24-hour profile on Gnotsavath.

Williams’ website shows it requires driver applicants to have no more than one preventable accident within three years. Reckless driving, hit and runs and DUI violations also disqualify applicants. Williams’ also requires drivers to have physicals and back evaluations for employment.

an oilfield worker was killed and three others were injured in an oil tank explosion and fire near Mead, Colorado. The facility, which stores extracted oil and gas awaiting transport, is owned and operated by Anadarko Petroleum








GREELEY, CO — Authorities say a worker was killed and three others were injured in an oil tank fire in northern Colorado.
People who work around crude oil tanks are taught to check the direction of the wind and stand upwind when opening the "thief hatches" on the tanks.
It is recognition of the health and safety danger posed by the volatile and explosive gases that accumulate inside these tanks, including the very lethal hydrogen sulfide.

The site in Mead owned by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation caught fire during maintenance work on the oil tanks Thursday afternoon. Three of the contract workers were hospitalized — one with serious injuries and two with moderate injuries.


The dead worker was found soon after.

The names of the victims have not been released, and investigators have not said what caused the fire.

Anadarko confirmed the death but did not release additional information.



===============



One worker was killed and three injured near Mead when an oil tank battery exploded this afternoon.

The facility, which stores extracted oil and gas awaiting transport, is owned and operated by Anadarko Petroleum, which also owns the improperly abandoned gas flowline that investigators say caused the deadly house explosion in Firestone last month.

In separate news today, Anadarko also disclosed that two pockets of high-concentration, fugitive gas had been discovered underground near the scene of the Firestone explosion. The company said it would be permanently shutting down three wells in that neighborhood.

The Mead explosion occurred at 3:15 this afternoon, about four miles from the Firestone site.

Mountain View Fire Battalion Chief Roger Rademacher said three workers working near the tank battery were injured and transported by ambulance. One has serious injuries and the two others are moderately injured. Sheriff’s officials confirmed early this evening that a fourth worker was killed in the blast.

By 6 p.m., police cars had blocked all access roads to the facility. A family, accompanied by a man in a hardhat, could be seen weeping near a road next to the site of the blast. They asked to be left alone and not to be photographed.

Police say “Preliminary information suggests that maintenance was possibly being performed on the site when the incident happened.”

Corporal Matt Turner, a public information officer for the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, told The Colorado Independent, “We don’t have any link between this incident and the methane discovered in Firestone.” Because this was a work-related accident and there is no suspected criminal activity, he said, the sheriff’s office will not be conducting further investigation. He called the explosion “an unfortunate accident.”

Tank battery sites store extracted oil and gas awaiting transport. Colorado’s oil and gas regulatory agency, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC), did not begin recording or taking inventory of tank battery sites until 2009. The majority of sites predating 2009 remain undocumented and unregulated.

An intact Anadarko tank battery close to the site of the Firestone blast is pictured below. It’s four miles from the tank battery that blew up today.



Hours before the Mead explosion, Anardarko announced that two high concentration pockets of flammable methane gas have been found near the tank pictured here in Firestone’s Oak Meadows neighborhood. Soil samples show methane saturation at close to 14 percent. “That means the ground was drenched with the stuff,” says a source close to the industry.

Mitigation is under way, the company said, with PVC venting and extraction systems set up at the gas pockets in Firestone. Contractors have been testing the site since at least last week.

Craig Walters, vice president of Anadarko’s Rocky Mountain operations, told attendees at an Oak Meadows Homeowners Association meeting Wednesday evening that the company would be permanently shutting down three wells near the site. Inspections show the wells to be safe, Walters said, but that the company will plug and abandon them permanently because of the “special circumstances and sensitivity” around the equipment. Anadarko temporarily shut 3,000 wells earlier this month when an investigation linked the explosion to one of their wells.

The Firestone explosion was caused by an improperly abandoned flowline leading from the well, which leaked flammable natural gas into the ground near the home of Erin and Mark Martinez. On April 17, this gas caught fire in the basement of the home, critically wounding Erin and killing Mark and his brother-in-law, Joey Irwin.

Walters said Wednesday night that Anadarko is “actively participating” in an investigation into that incident. That probe is being led by the National Transportation Safety Board, because pipelines are considered a form of transportation. The company says it cannot answer questions about the incident itself while the investigation is underway.

At the HOA’s request, Anadarko is providing funding for the purchase of home natural gas detection devices. The gas that seeped into the Martinez home was unprocessed, without the additive mercaptan, which provides the telltale “gas smell.”

The company also has provided posters showing the location of its active underground flowlines in the neighborhood. Those maps aren’t kept by the COGCC, leaving the public in the dark about what lies beneath their homes, offices and schools.

The oil and gas industry recently worked to kill proposed legislation that would have required the state regulatory agency to map all active and inactive flowlines across Colorado. The line that caused the Firestone tragedy was considered inactive.

Both today’s blast and the fatal home explosion in April raise questions about Anadarko’s safety practices. Company officials gathered near the Mead site earlier this evening, but beyond the point where police would allow this reporter access to seek the company’s comment.

Heather Sawlidi, treasurer for the Oak Meadows Homeowner’s Association, told The Colorado Independent that Anadarko has not provided satisfying answers to all of residents’ questions. At the meeting Wednesday, she said, “A lot of it was, ‘Here’s what we can tell you — and you can try to make assumptions on the rest.'” Anadarko is not speaking about the Firestone incident while a federal investigation is under way. She added, “That doesn’t help us. That doesn’t make us feel any better.”

Both explosions also raise questions about the efficacy of the COGCC and the wisdom of its dual roles as both a booster of oil and gas production and the industry’s health and safety regulator.

Weeks before the Firestone explosion, the Colorado Court of Appeals handed down a benchmark decision in March ordering the COGCC to prioritize public health and safety concerns above its role promoting the industry. The COGCC decided to appeal the case to the Colorado Supreme Court and Attorney General Cynthia Coffman filed on its behalf over the public objection of Gov. John Hickenlooper. Despite the governor’s insistence that his office should decide whether an appeal should go forward, he said he would not challenge either the COGCC or the the Attorney General’s decision. That has earned him further criticism from conservationists and residents of the gas patch who say the governor is insensitive to their concerns.

Hickenlooper is a former oil and gas industry geologist who made headlines drinking fracking fluid during a U.S. Senate Committee hearing. He asserted last week that the COGCC is doing its job protecting the public from health and safety threats posed by the industry.



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1 worker dies, 3 injured in Anadarko oil tank explosion in Mead: 'It was like 2 bombs going off'


Blast marks third fatality for Anadarko oil and gas firm
 

By Amelia Arvesen and Anthony Hahn
Staff Writers
Posted: 05/25/2017 03:59:41 PM MDT




An oil tank burns at the scene of an oil well explosion near the Grand View Estates neighborhood in Mead Thursday afternoon. Lewis Geyer/Staff Photographer May 25, 2017

Photos: Mead oil well explosion‹›



Crews are on scene Thursday of an oil tank fire in Mead. (Mountain View Fire/Courtesy photo)

An oil tank battery that exploded while workers performed maintenance off Colo. 66 near Colorado Boulevard in Mead has left one man dead, Weld County Sheriff's Office spokesman Matt Turner confirmed Thursday evening.

Mountain View Fire Battalion Chief Roger Rademacher originally said three workers working on site were injured and transported by ambulance — one with serious injuries and the two others with moderate injuries.

The oil tank battery is owned by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, and the death marks the third fatality related to the oil and gas firm since mid-April. A Firestone house explosion on April 17 spurred the company to shut 3,000 wells across the state, leading Gov. John Hickenlooper to order a statewide review of oil and gas operations in the aftermath.

Mark Martinez and his brother-in-law, Joey Irwin, both 42, were killed in the Firestone house explosion. Erin Martinez was left badly burned.

When law enforcement personnel arrived on scene about 3:15 p.m. Thursday, they found the oil tank battery "fully engulfed in flame," Turner said. He added that the fire had been extinguished by crews shortly after arrival.

Two of the victims were taken to North Colorado Medical Center for burn treatment, Turner said, adding that the third worker was taken to the Medical Center of the Rockies.

The fourth victim was later discovered at the scene of the explosion and pronounced dead, according to Turner.

The Weld County Sheriff's Office said the identity of the deceased would not be released at this time and will be released later by the coroner's office.

Officials on Twitter said there are no hazards to residents and there are no evacuations.

"Preliminary information suggests that maintenance was possibly being performed on the site when the incident happened," said a Weld County sheriff's news release.

The oil tank facility ignited as contract crews were doing maintenance, Anadarko spokeswoman Helen Wells confirmed in an email Thursday night.

Grand View Estates resident Ken Millet said he lives about a block away from the site of the fire.

"It was like two bombs going off back to back and just the house shook and the windows," he said. "All these homes out here are brick so it takes quite a bit to make 'em move."

The fire burned about 4 miles north of the Firestone house that exploded.

When asked during a news briefing outside the explosion site on Thursday about concerns regarding Anadarko's two recent explosions in the same county, Turner said it "was still very much an active incident," and could not comment further.