Workers installing a fireplace in a Steveston apartment complex last summer caused a gas leak which resulted in an explosion and fire, damaging four suites, according to an incident report by Technical Safety B.C. (TSBC).
According to the report, the workers did not turn off the main gas supply, located in the building’s parkade, to the suites before starting the installation, which was confirmed by CCTV footage.
The report also states that the apartment complex’s building manager also told the TSBC he had not been asked by the workers — or any workers who had previously replaced fireplaces in the building — “to make arrangements to access suites with fireplaces attached to a common gas (pipe) in order to turn off and relight fireplace pilot lights.”
Residents of the Nautica North apartment complex, on No. 2 Road south of Andrews Road, were evacuated from the building July 10, following an explosion and small fire that significantly damaged four units.
No one was injured.
The four apartments damaged by the explosion and fire were connected to the main gas supply by the same pipe.
And while the workers did turn off the valve connecting the second-floor fireplace to the gas pipe, they didn’t do the same for the other apartments.
According to the report, the gas fitters were working on a chimney vent on the roof when they smelled gas and called the owner of the second-floor suite to ask the gas utility to turn off the main gas supply to the building. The explosion occurred moments later, when the fireplace pilot light in the fourth floor suite ignited the gas.
An explosion also occurred in the third floor suite. Both fireplaces were dislodged out of the wall.
There are a number of reasons why the contractors might not have turned off the gas supply, said the TSBC, for example, they may have wanted to save time or were unaware of regulatory requirements and safe work practices.
This incident, according to the TSBC, is an "important reminder" to contractors, homeowners and strata corporations that workers should “isolate the gas supply upstream of the appliance or connected piping,” and after completing the work, should test the system for any possible gas leaks.
The safety board said it is aware of at least one other "serious incident," in White Rock, where gas had not been turned off before work commenced.
