Gas smell at nursing home was reported hours before deadly explosion, report says

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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Hours before a deadly explosion ripped through a Pennsylvania nursing home last month, staff grew concerned about the smell of natural gas on several floors and brought in workers from the local utility company to check it out, federal regulators said Wednesday.

The preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board provides details about the three hours that passed between the report of a gas odor and the thunderous blast in Bristol, just outside Philadelphia, as well as how utility workers were on the scene for much of that time. It also notes that a utility worker traced the leak to a valve in a meter set in the basement boiler room.

While the presence of utility workers and witness accounts of a heavy gas smell in the explosion's aftermath raised questions about a possible leak, PECO had said at the time it could not determine the cause or whether its equipment was involved.

Two residents and an employee were killed and about 20 people injured, including one of the utility workers, just a few days before Christmas. Part of the building collapsed, trapping people inside, as emergency workers, staff and even medics from a nearby hospital rushed to evacuate people.

Exelon, PECO’s parent company, shut off the gas flow to the facility almost two hours after the explosion, according to the report. It’s not clear why it took that long to do so.

Investigators plan to focus on Exelon’s pipeline safety management and how it trains people, their qualifications, “odor complaint response” and other factors.

With the new report, a PECO spokesperson said the company recognizes “the importance of continuous improvement and vigilance with respect to the safe and reliable delivery of electric and natural gas service.” The emailed statement expressed sympathy to the victims and their families, to displaced residents and to the wider community.

According to the report, a maintenance director at Bristol Health & Rehab Center reported the smell of natural gas in the basement on Dec. 23 and called the utility company. The PECO worker arrived at Bristol Health & Rehab Center just before noon, about an hour after the odor was detected. Staff also smelled gas on the first and second floors.

The Exelon energy technician determined there was a leak on a meter set valve in the basement and called for help fixing it. A meter set includes the meter, regulator, piping, valves and fittings.

An Exelon foreman sent out a meter services technician to make the repair. He arrived at about 1:20 p.m. The explosion occurred at around 2:15 p.m.

Federal inspectors say the line and gas equipment have been tested, with some items sent to a lab for more study.