TRISTA MEEHAN OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, HAD A backed-up sewer line and needed it to be unplugged.  After calling in the Roto-Rooter man and learning that he couldn’t fix it, she called one of the local plumbers, Lee “Ron the Sewer Rat” Moey.  The Pioneer Press relates what happened next:

“He was using a normal main-line sewer auger,” Ron Moey said. “We weren’t digging up the line or anything.”

But after he had worked for less than a half-hour, a sudden gush of water shot out of the sewer line, and Lee Moey heard a hissing noise from deep in the pipe. He smelled gas and watched as the basement’s windows blew out and tiny fires caught in the corners of the basement.

“Get out! Get out!” yelled Lee Moey, first-degree burns covering his face. The owner and only other occupant of the Highland Park home fled outside with him. Within an hour of the 10 a.m. blast, firefighters had evacuated more than a dozen nearby residences, warning that underground gas could put them in danger.

Pioneer Press

This story began in 1991 when the gas utility Xcel Energy relocated the gas mains in several areas of the city.  In order to save time and expense, they used a “trenchless” system of laying pipe that involves a horizontal boring through the ground.  In some instances the machine drilled through the sewer lines and laid the new gas pipe crossways through the sewer.

Minnesota Dept. of Public Safety

After several instances of plumbers unknowingly severing gas lines while working on sewers, in 2003 Xcel sent a bulletin to 23,000 plumbers and utility workers saying, “Utility lines may have been inadvertently installed through some sewer lines” and could pose a “risk to public safety.”  The Star-Tribune has more details about Xcel’s history of sewer problems HERE.

When the St. Paul FD arrived on the scene Monday, they found fire in part of the house and started an interior attack.  But as soon as they found that it was a gas-fed fire, they pulled out and began protecting the exposures.  KARE-TV continues the story:

“We weren’t going to save this house because of the way the fire was being fed by gas,” explained St. Paul Fire Marshall Steve Zaccard, “we weren’t going to be able to save it so we didn’t risk lives doing that  

When a basement gas line breaks, it can move through sewer lines and fill nearby homes that are on the system. Authorities say the immediate concern was that the natural gas would fill the sewer system and surrounding homes with gas. 

“Now the gas is in the sewer system, was out here in the street, we found gas readings in some of the neighboring homes,” said Zaccard, “so we had to evacuate the neighborhood, about 15 homes.”

KARE-TV posted this video report from the fireground:

Within an hour Xcel was able to shut down the local main and begin repairing the line, completing it before nightfall and restoring service to the homes.  The house where it started was a total loss and Ron the Sewer Rat needed hospital treatment for burns to his face.  Read the rest of the STORY HERE.