2 CONSTRUCTION DEMOLITION WORKERS INJURED AS HOUSE EXPLODES IN WATER MILL, SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY. SOMEBODY FORGOT TO TURN THE GAS OFF.
February
11, 2015
WATER MILL,
LI, NY
A house
exploded in Water Mill Wednesday afternoon and injured two construction workers
in what authorities believe is a gas-fueled ignition, Southampton Town police
said.
The house,
on Old Country Road and Montauk Highway, ignited shortly after 2:15 p.m. and
was destroyed, said Capt. Lawrence Schurek.
"The
house was being razed," he said. "Everything was supposed to be off,
and when the workers were doing some work, the home exploded.
//_____________________________________________________________//
WATER MILL,
LI, NY (WABC) --
Two people
were hurt when a house caught fire after a possible explosion on Long Island
Wednesday afternoon.
The house on Old Country Road in Water Mill was fully involved when firefighters arrived just after 2:15 p.m.
It appeared to be a gas-fueled fire.
Firefighters cleared a landing zone at the nearby Parrish Art Museum for medevac helicopters, which rushed the victims to the hospital.
Witnesses said they were both men and appeared to have scorched clothing and various burns, but were walking around the scene.
There was a dumpster in front of the property, indicating there was work being done at the time. The injured are all said to be workers, some of whom were seen running out of the house at the time of the explosion.
The house was leveled, with debris strewn on neighboring lawns. Some other condos were damaged, and building inspectors are on the scene.
County Road 39 is closed to traffic near the site. Montauk Highway is also shut down eastbound in the vicinity of Cobb Road and CR 39.
//_________________________________________//
THE DEMOLITION WORKERS ACCIDENTALLY CUT A GAS LINE. THE RELEASED GAS THEN EXPLODED FROM AN IGNITION SOURCE IN THE BASEMENT
Two Riverhead construction workers were injured when they accidentally cut a gas line in the basement of a Water Mill home, causing an explosion that leveled the two-story wood-frame house Wednesday afternoon.
Abner Canel, 18, is in critical condition in Stony Brook University Hospital, where his co-worker, Rolando Perez, 40,f is listed in stable condition, according to Southampton Town Police. Both were airlifted to Stony Brook with “extensive burns,” police said.
Canel and Perez were working in the basement of the unoccupied house, whose owner, a Manhattan man, had a demolition permit application pending, Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst told Newsday.
The explosion reduced the home to a pile of burning rubble, according to news reports and eyewitness accounts posted on social media.
“It shook me like a small earthquake,” one resident wrote on Facebook.
Numerous neighbors reported hearing a loud explosion and seeing heavy black smoke coming from the home at 21 Old Country Road just before 2:15 p.m. yesterday, police said. The explosion shook nearby homes and businesses, according to a report on the 27East website.
A neighbor, Austin Handler, said he got to the house to find the two men uotside the residence, dazed and injured, according to Newsday.
Both had cuts to their hands and face, he wrote on Facebook. “One of the worker’s jacket looked like it had gone through a paper shredder, from exploding glass that blew all the way out to the street. They are lucky to be alive,” he wrote.
When Southampton Town Police and Southampton Fire Department volunteers arrived at the scene moments later, they found the house fully engulfed in flames, according to a police press release.
Southampton Volunteer Ambulance and Southampton Village Ambulance personnel transported the men to a landing zone for a Suffolk County Police Medevac helicopter, which flew them to Stony Brook.
“The Southampton FD was able to extinguish the flames, but the house was completely demolished from the explosion,” Southampton Police said in a press release. “Southampton detectives and fire marshals determined that the two occupants were in the basement working on renovating the home and preliminary investigation indicates that they accidentally cut a gas pipe which caused the explosion. National Grid workers also responded to the scene,” police said.
The house on Old Country Road in Water Mill was fully involved when firefighters arrived just after 2:15 p.m.
It appeared to be a gas-fueled fire.
Firefighters cleared a landing zone at the nearby Parrish Art Museum for medevac helicopters, which rushed the victims to the hospital.
Witnesses said they were both men and appeared to have scorched clothing and various burns, but were walking around the scene.
There was a dumpster in front of the property, indicating there was work being done at the time. The injured are all said to be workers, some of whom were seen running out of the house at the time of the explosion.
The house was leveled, with debris strewn on neighboring lawns. Some other condos were damaged, and building inspectors are on the scene.
County Road 39 is closed to traffic near the site. Montauk Highway is also shut down eastbound in the vicinity of Cobb Road and CR 39.
//_________________________________________//
THE DEMOLITION WORKERS ACCIDENTALLY CUT A GAS LINE. THE RELEASED GAS THEN EXPLODED FROM AN IGNITION SOURCE IN THE BASEMENT
Two Riverhead construction workers were injured when they accidentally cut a gas line in the basement of a Water Mill home, causing an explosion that leveled the two-story wood-frame house Wednesday afternoon.
Abner Canel, 18, is in critical condition in Stony Brook University Hospital, where his co-worker, Rolando Perez, 40,f is listed in stable condition, according to Southampton Town Police. Both were airlifted to Stony Brook with “extensive burns,” police said.
Canel and Perez were working in the basement of the unoccupied house, whose owner, a Manhattan man, had a demolition permit application pending, Southampton Town Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst told Newsday.
The explosion reduced the home to a pile of burning rubble, according to news reports and eyewitness accounts posted on social media.
“It shook me like a small earthquake,” one resident wrote on Facebook.
Numerous neighbors reported hearing a loud explosion and seeing heavy black smoke coming from the home at 21 Old Country Road just before 2:15 p.m. yesterday, police said. The explosion shook nearby homes and businesses, according to a report on the 27East website.
A neighbor, Austin Handler, said he got to the house to find the two men uotside the residence, dazed and injured, according to Newsday.
Both had cuts to their hands and face, he wrote on Facebook. “One of the worker’s jacket looked like it had gone through a paper shredder, from exploding glass that blew all the way out to the street. They are lucky to be alive,” he wrote.
When Southampton Town Police and Southampton Fire Department volunteers arrived at the scene moments later, they found the house fully engulfed in flames, according to a police press release.
Southampton Volunteer Ambulance and Southampton Village Ambulance personnel transported the men to a landing zone for a Suffolk County Police Medevac helicopter, which flew them to Stony Brook.
“The Southampton FD was able to extinguish the flames, but the house was completely demolished from the explosion,” Southampton Police said in a press release. “Southampton detectives and fire marshals determined that the two occupants were in the basement working on renovating the home and preliminary investigation indicates that they accidentally cut a gas pipe which caused the explosion. National Grid workers also responded to the scene,” police said.