RICHMOND, CITY OF

Incident Narrative

THIS IS A FOLLOW-UP TO THE TELEPHONE CALL PLACED ON 7/7/11. INCIDENT REPORT #982932, WHICH OCCURRED AT 1413 BOWEN STREET, RICHMOND, VA. THE INCIDENT WAS REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER AT 06:40 ON SUNDAY, 7/7/11. A FIRE, UNRELATED TO NATURAL GAS, WAS THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF THE INCIDENT. THE TOTAL DAMAGE IS ESTIMATED TO BE MORE THAN $50,000. THE ORIGIN OF THE FIRE HAS NOT BEEN DETERMINED, BUT THE FIRE DEPT. HAS RULED THAT WAS NOT THE INITIATING CAUSE OF THE EVENT. THE CITY OF RICHMOND PERFORMED A SERIES OF TESTS WHICH INCLUDED A LEAK SURVEY OF THE OUTER PERIMETER OF THE BUILDING, BAR HOLE TEST, AND A PRESSURE TEST OF THE GAS SERVICE. DURING THE FIRE, THE RISER, REGULATOR, AND METER WERE DESTROYED, WHICH CAUSED A LEAK ON THE RISER THAT SHOWED UP DURING THE PRESSURE TEST OF THE SERVICE. A TEST OF THE RISER DETERMINED THAT THE FAILURE WAS DUE TO THE HEAT FROM THE FIRE. ALSO, THE CITY OF RICHMOND, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES, HAD AN ODOROMETER TEST PERFORMED BY THE SUPERVISOR OF PRESSURE CONTROL AND FOUND THE ODORANT TO BE IN THE ACCEPTABLE RANGE.