CONSOLIDATED EDISON CO OF NEW YORK

Incident Narrative

AT 06:57 ON NOVEMBER 15, 2017, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK (FDNY) NOTIFIED CON EDISON'S GAS EMERGENCY RESPONSE CENTER (GERC) OF A GAS-FED FIRE IN APARTMENT 2B AT 2315 UNIVERSITY AVENUE IN THE BRONX. A CON EDISON GAS DISTRIBUTION SERVICES (GDS) MECHANIC AND SUPERVISOR WERE THEN DISPATCHED TO THE LOCATION. AT 06:59, THE FDNY CALLED BACK AND REPORTED THAT THEY HAD TURNED OFF GAS SERVICE TO THE ENTIRE BUILDING AND THAT THERE WERE NO REPORTED INJURIES. AT 07:22, CON EDISON'S GDS MECHANIC AND SUPERVISOR ARRIVED ON LOCATION AND BEGAN INVESTIGATING. FDNY CHIEF MCCORMACK OF DIVISION 7 WAS ON LOCATION. THE GDS SUPERVISOR REPORTED THAT THE FDNY HAD CLOSED THE METER CONTROL VALVE IN APARTMENT 2B PRIOR TO GDS' ARRIVAL AND THAT GAS SERVICE WAS NOT SHUT OFF TO THE ENTIRE BUILDING, AS HAD BEEN INITIALLY REPORTED. GDS INVESTIGATED APARTMENT 2B AND THE ADJACENT APARTMENTS (2A, 2C, 3B & 1B) AND DETECTED NO NATURAL GAS ODORS OR READINGS IN ANY OF THE APARTMENTS. NO GAS PIPING DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED INSIDE APARTMENT 2B, AND ALL POINTS-OF-ENTRY WERE CLEAR OF NATURAL GAS READINGS. PRESSURE AND ODORANT READINGS WERE MONITORED AT AN ADJACENT APARTMENT (2C) AND WERE WITHIN THE ACCEPTABLE RANGE (6.2"" WATER COLUMN AND 0.33% GAS-IN-AIR, RESPECTIVELY). GDS CLOSED, PLUGGED AND LOCKED THE METER BAR, AND THE SHUTDOWN WAS VERIFIED. A WARNING TAG WAS ALSO ISSUED. AT 08:37, THE CON EDISON GDS SUPERVISOR REPORTED THAT THE FACE OF THE GAS METER WAS MELTED, WITH THE METER NUMBER TAGS DAMAGED BY THE FIRE. THE FDNY FIRE MARSHAL INVESTIGATED AND DETERMINED THAT THE PRIMARY FIRE AND SOURCE OF IGNITION WERE RELATED TO ELECTRICAL WIRING IN THE KITCHEN. THE OCCUPANT OF THE APARTMENT, MR. ESTANIS LAO CRUZ (AGE 90), WAS SLEEPING IN A BEDROOM WHEN HE SMELLED SMOKE AND VACATED THE APARTMENT. THERE WERE NO REPORTED INJURIES OR ILLNESSES. THE NY STATE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY (NYSDPS), NY CITY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (NYCDEP), AND THE NATIONAL RESPONSE CENTER (NRC) WERE NOTIFIED. NYSDPS RESPONDED TO LOCATION, AND AN UPDATE WAS PROVIDED TO THE NRC WITHIN 48 HOURS.