巴尔的摩——周一早上，一场天然气爆炸摧毁了巴尔的摩的三栋房屋，造成一名妇女死亡，其他人被困在废墟中。至少有7人严重受伤，消防队员正在搜寻更多幸存者。
几十名消防队员聚集在瓦砾堆上。这一排的第四栋房屋被撕开，附近房屋的窗户被打碎，巴尔的摩西北部的赖斯特镇车站附近散落着玻璃和其他瓦砾。
“这是一场灾难。一团糟。住在街对面的黛安·格洛弗说:“这太不可思议了。”她的窗户碎了，她的前门被吹开了。几小时后，她说:“我还是很震惊。”
巴尔的摩市消防局在其网站上称，7人住院，一名妇女在现场被宣布死亡推特佩奇。巴尔的摩太阳报报道，一名被送往马里兰大学医学中心的人情况危急。救援人员煞费苦心地用手在废墟中搜寻，准备工作到深夜。
巴尔的摩消防局发言人布莱尔·亚当斯在下午的新闻发布会上说:“我们正努力确保对每一个区域进行彻底搜查，以确定里面是否有受害者。”
虽然原因还不清楚，但据《太阳报》去年报道，危险气体泄漏已经变得更加频繁，根据该公司给联邦当局的报告，平均每天有近24起泄漏。该报称，巴尔的摩天然气和电力公司有数千英里的废弃管道需要更换，这项工作将耗资近10亿美元，耗时20年。
周一晚间，该公司在一份声明中表示，在今天上午的事件发生之前，没有任何气体气味的报告，BGE也没有收到任何来自受损住宅区的气体气味电话。
BGE表示，在消防部门要求关闭所有燃气和电力服务以确保现场安全的情况下，该公司对现场做出了回应。BGE已经搜查了该地区，没有发现当前的气体读数。公用事业公司发表声明称，将对该地区的设备进行调查。
声明说:“区域检查将包括大面积的房屋和燃气设备，以确保没有额外的损害。”“此外，BGE正在审查该区域的记录，包括任何报告的气体气味、最近的检查结果和维修情况。”
56岁的格洛弗和她77岁的父亲摩西·格洛弗在家时，巨大的爆炸震动了他们的房子，打翻了一个风扇和她的一些光盘。
”我跳起来看看发生了什么。我从浴室的窗户往外看，地上有一栋房子。”"听起来像是炸弹爆炸了。"
住在附近的36岁的迪恩·琼斯跑到了现场。他说他看到了一堆乱七八糟的砖块、玻璃和煤渣块——还有一盒煎饼。
他说:“你可以看出这是一个人住的房子。”
琼斯说，他和其他人开始呼叫幸存者，并找到一名老年妇女，最后被消防队员救了出来。凯文·马修斯住在这个街区，他告诉巴尔的摩太阳报，他能听到被困的孩子在喊:“来救我们!我们被困住了!”
巴里·莱文塔尔(Barry Leventhal)的仓库设备业务距离爆炸现场约150英尺(46米)，他说爆炸发生时他正在仓库里，爆炸震动了他的建筑，损坏了灯光和一面混凝土墙。
幸运的是，公司的10名员工没有一个受伤。
“我们以为飞机坠毁了什么的。“我们想不出来，”万物仓库的主人莱文塔尔说。
BGE要求马里兰公共服务委员会在2017年末批准新的天然气系统基础设施和成本回收机制，以支付升级费用。
“BGE成立于1816年，是美国最古老的天然气分配公司。与许多较老的天然气系统一样，其天然气干线和服务基础设施的很大一部分由铸铁和裸钢组成，这些材料已经过时，而且随着时间的推移很容易失效。”
该地区的天然气基础设施建于20世纪60年代初。当老化的管道失效时，它们往往会成为头条新闻。去年，一场煤气爆炸撕裂了位于哥伦比亚的马里兰办公大楼的正面，影响了20多家企业。周日清晨，没有人在爆炸中受伤。2016年，一个煤气总管破裂迫使巴尔的摩县巡回法院撤离。在2012年的一次煤气总管破裂后，奥曼公司不得不撤离其在巴尔的摩的办公室。
BGE在周一晚间的一份声明中表示，其最近一次对该地区天然气管道和服务的检查发生在2019年6月和7月，没有发现任何泄漏。
巴尔的摩市议会主席布兰登·斯科特说，他需要“整个巴尔的摩市现在集中精力为那些受到影响的人祈祷。”
他在新闻发布会上说:“我希望这个城市的每个人都团结在那些仍在为自己的生命而战的人们周围。”
1 dead, 7 rescued after gas explosion levels Baltimore homes
BALTIMORE -- A natural gas explosion destroyed three row houses in Baltimore on Monday morning, killing a woman and trapping other people in the debris. At least seven people were seriously injured, and firefighters were searching for more survivors.
Dozens of firefighters converged on the piles of rubble. A fourth house in the row was ripped open, and windows were shattered in nearby homes, leaving the northwest Baltimore neighborhood of Reisterstown Station strewn with glass and other rubble.
“It’s a disaster. It’s a mess. It’s unbelievable,” said Diane Glover, who lives across the street. Her windows where shattered and her front door was blown open. “I’m still shaken up,” she said hours later.
Seven people were hospitalized, while a woman was pronounced dead at the scene, The Baltimore City Fire Department said on itsTwitterpage. One person transported to the University of Maryland Medical Center is in critical condition, the Baltimore Sun reported. Rescuers were painstakingly going through the rubble by hand, prepared to work into the night.
“We’re trying to make sure that we comb through every area to determine if there are any victims inside," Baltimore Fire Department spokeswoman Blair Adams said at an afternoon news conference.
While the cause wasn’t immediately clear, The Sun reported last year that dangerous gas leaks have become much more frequent, with nearly two dozen discovered each day on average, according to the utility’s reports to federal authorities. The Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. has thousands of miles of obsolete pipes that need to be replaced, an effort that would cost nearly $1 billion and take two decades, the newspaper said.
No gas odors were reported prior to this morning’s event and BGE did not receive any recent gas odor calls from the block of homes that were damaged, it said in a statement late Monday.
BGE said it responded to the scene at the fire department’s request to shut off all gas and electric service to make the scene safe. BGE has canvassed the area and found no current readings of gas. A statement from the utility said it will conduct an investigation of its equipment in the area.
“Area inspections will encompass homes and gas equipment in a wide area to ensure there is no additional damage,” the statement said. “In addition, BGE is reviewing records for this area, including any reported gas odors, recent inspection results and repairs.”
Glover, 56, and her 77-year-old father, Moses Glover, were at home when the massive explosion shook their house, knocking over a fan and some of her DVDs.
“I jumped up to see what was going on. I looked out the bathroom window and there was a house on the ground,” she said. “It sounded like a bomb went off.”
Dean Jones, 36, who lives nearby, ran to the scene. He said he saw a mess of bricks, glass and cinder blocks — and also a box of pancakes.
“You could tell this was a house that people lived in,” he said.
Jones said he and others began calling out for survivors and located an older woman who was eventually pulled out by firefighters. Kevin Matthews, who lives on the block, told The Baltimore Sun that he could hear trapped children shouting: “Come get us! We’re stuck!”
Barry Leventhal, whose warehouse equipment business is about 150 feet (46 meters) from the blast site, said he was in his warehouse when the explosion erupted and shook his building, damaging lights and a concrete wall.
Fortunately, none of the company’s 10 employees was injured.
“We thought a plane crashed or something. We couldn’t figure it out,” said Leventhal, the owner of Everything Warehouse.
BGE asked the Maryland Public Service Commission to approve a new gas system infrastructure and a cost recovery mechanism in late 2017 to pay for upgrades.
“Founded in 1816, BGE is the oldest gas distribution company in the nation. Like many older gas systems, a larger portion of its gas main and services infrastructure consists of cast iron and bare steel – materials that are obsolete and susceptible to failure with age," the PSC wrote in a 2018 order approving a modernization plan.
This area’s gas infrastructure was installed in the early 1960s. When aging pipes fail, they tend to make headlines. Last year, a gas explosion ripped the façade off a Maryland office complex in Columbia, affecting more than 20 businesses. No one was injured in the explosion early on a Sunday morning. In 2016, a gas main break forced the evacuation of the Baltimore County Circuit Courthouse. Under Armour Inc. had to evacuate its Baltimore office after a gas main break in 2012.
BGE said in a statement late Monday that its most recent inspection of the gas mains and services in the area occurred in June and July of 2019 and did not identify any leaks.
Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott said he needs “the entire city of Baltimore right now to focus on hopeful prayers for those individuals that have been impacted by this.”
“I want everybody in the city really to rally around those individuals that are still fighting for their lives,” he said at a news conference.
