CONSOLIDATED EDISON CO OF NEW YORK

Incident Narrative

ON JULY 23,2013 AT 01:46 WESTCHESTER FIRE CONTROL REPORTED A BUILDING FIRE WITH A GAS ODOR AT THIS LOCATION TO THE GAS EMERGENCY RESPONSE CENTER (GERC). GAS DISTRIBUTION SERVICES (GDS) AND SUPERVISION WERE DISPATCHED. AT 02:02 WESTCHESTER FIRE CONTROL CALLED A SECOND TIME AND REPORTED A GAS IGNITION AT THE SAME LOCATION (STILL BELIEVED TO BE A BUILDING FIRE). GDS WAS UPDATED AND ARRIVED AT 02:14. THE GERC PROVIDED GDS MEASUREMENTS TO LOCATE A 4"" 1956 MEDIUM PRESSURE (MP) MAIN VALVE-27428 WHICH WOULD HAVE ISOLATED THE INCIDENT AFFECTING 9 RESIDENTIAL SERVICES. GDS WAS UNABLE TO LOCATE THE MAIN VALVE AND 4 BACKUP MAIN VALVES WERE IDENTIFIED AND PROVIDED BY GERC. GAS EMERGENCY RESPONSE FORCE (ERF) EXCAVATED THE LOCATION OF MV-27428 AND WAS UNABLE TO LOCATE. THE (4) MAIN VALVES ON THE MP DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM WERE LOCATED BY GDS AND CLOSED BY 04:03. THE FLAME DECREASED IN SIZE BUT DID NOT EXTINGUISH. SYSTEM PRESSURES IN THE AREA AND WERE MONITORED IN RESPONSE TO CLOSURE OF A 8"" MP MV-30551 AT GAS REGULATOR-583 AND WERE ADEQUATE. WESTCHESTER ERF AND BRONX ERF EXCAVATED TO LOCATE PRIMARY SHUTOFF VALVE MV-27428. TWO RESIDENTS FROM 1605 AND TWO RESIDENTS FROM 1611 WINFIELD AVE WERE EVACUATED BY MAMARONECK FD (MMFD) AS A PRECAUTION. AT 06:36 PRIMARY VALVE MV-27428 WAS EXPOSED AND CLOSED EXTINGUISHING THE FIRE AND SECURING THE LEAK. THIS VALVE WAS DISCOVERED UNDER A WATER DEPARTMENT VALVE BOX COVER AND ""RITE HEIGHT"" VALVE BOX EXTENSION DUE TO THE AREA RECENTLY BEING PAVED. THIS CONDITION CONCEALED THE GAS VALVE BOX COVER CORRECTLY INSTALLED OVER MV-27428. NINE CONFIRMED OUTAGES ON WINFIELD AVE. ONLY WAS THE EXTENT OF THE CUSTOMER IMPACT. THREE VISIBLE HOLES APPROXIMATELY THE SIZE OF A HALF DOLLAR EACH WERE DISCOVERED IN THE MP GAS MAIN LOCATED DIRECTLY UNDER THE PAVEMENT WHERE THE ""A"" PHASE BURNED THREE HOLES IN THE PAVEMENT. THE ""A"" PHASE OF 13 KV BOWMAN AUTO-LOOP IS SUSPECTED TO BE THE CAUSE OF THE FIRE. THE CUSTOMER IN 1605 WINFIELD AVE REPORTED LIGHTS WERE FLICKERING INSIDE HIS HOME, HE SAW SPARKS AND THEN SAW AN OVERHEAD WIRE FALL AND THEN HEARD A BOOMING SOUND. MMFD REPORTED 2-3 PRIVATE VEHICLES (>$50,000 DAMAGE) WERE ON FIRE THEN REALIZED NATURAL GAS WAS INVOLVED, PER NEWS 4 TV REPORTING. NO INJURIES REPORTED OR STRUCTURES IMPACTED. THE EVACUATION OF 1605 AND 1611 WINFIELD AVENUE WAS TERMINATED AT 07:05. NO GAS ODOR OR READINGS WERE DETECTED IN ANY SUB SURFACE STRUCTURES (SSS) OR BUILDINGS. CHANNEL 4 & CHANNEL 2 TV NEWS WERE ON LOCATION AND PHOTOGRAPHIC AND LAW DEPTS. RESPONDED. THE US DOT, NYS PSC, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, MEDIA RELATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS WERE NOTIFIED. MMFD CHIEF PECCHIA WAS ON LOCATION. THE PSC CALLED,WAS UPDATED AND RESPONDED TO LOCATION. GAS CONSTRUCTION WORKED AROUND THE CLOCK AND INSERTED THE 4"" MP STEEL MAIN WITH 3"" MP POLYETHYLENE. AT 10:51 THE SERIOUS LEVEL INCIDENT STATUS WAS TERMINATED. ON JULY 24, 2013 AT 12:51 GDS COMPLETED RESTORATION TO THE LAST CUSTOMER IMPACTED.