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Did anyone else hear that explosion just now in North Austin?


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Posted

I always install a few LP detectors as soon as we have propane connected.  They have to be mounted just off the floor and as such are not always easy to hide in an aesthetically pleasing  manner. At a month to move in we are typically doing punch and furniture is getting moved in. A lot of furnishings off gas like crazy and smell like propane to some degree so people get fooled into thinking it's just the plastic smell.

Half my clients later remove the detectors because they are "ugly". Smh

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Posted
41 minutes ago, Helobious said:

No propane tank is causing an explosion that big. Homeowner was up to some shit. 

It wouldn't be the tank itself exploding. It would be the gas filling up inside the house before something ignited it. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, Helobious said:

No propane tank is causing an explosion that big. Homeowner was up to some shit. 

You do realize a very common residential propane tank has 500 gallon capacity?  Leak all that into a house and it's definitely a large bomb.

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Posted

Went to my friend’s house this morning and drove a street over to see the damage. Aside from the damage to the homes, it was strange seeing a number of official looking people roaming around the area, with agency names I’d never heard before. 

Posted
6 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

Went to my friend’s house this morning and drove a street over to see the damage. Aside from the damage to the homes, it was strange seeing a number of official looking people roaming around the area, with agency names I’d never heard before. 

For the record, dude....this is not a real agency:

female-body-inspector-unisex-t-shirt-202

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Posted (edited)
46 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Leak all that into a house and it's definitely a large bomb.

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Like others, I'm really interested to learn more.  If there was enough propane in that house to cause an explosion like that, you'd think the owner would've smelled it once he walked in the door.  If that was the case, I'd flee the house ASAP and call 911.

Edited by South Austin
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Posted
4 minutes ago, South Austin said:

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Like others, I'm really interested to learn more.  If there was enough propane in that house to cause an explosion like that, you'd think the owner would've smelled it once he walked in the door.  If that was the case, I'd flee the house ASAP and call 911.

You're making an assumption that he got in the door before it exploded. 

 

Posted
2 minutes ago, hornian said:

You're making an assumption that he got in the door before it exploded. 

True, but I thought he was one of the injured who was pulled from inside the collapsed house.  Maybe I read that wrong.

Posted

I just found out that one of my law partners lives on the adjacent street southwest of Double Spur Loop, and her house is basically 50-60 yards downhill from the ground-zero home, with a decent amount of wooded space in between.  She had windows blown out of her house and other significant damage, and her neighbor's house got worse.  

Posted
GtmZf9.gif
Like others, I'm really interested to learn more.  If there was enough propane in that house to cause an explosion like that, you'd think the owner would've smelled it once he walked in the door.  If that was the case, I'd flee the house ASAP and call 911.

1. Olfactory fatigue
2. Expansion ratio of propane is 270:1
3. Tanks are filled to 80% capacity, so if this was a 500 gallon tank it was filled with 400 liquid gallons. 400 x 270 = lots of boom boom sauce.
Posted
1 minute ago, Herbie Hancock said:

1. Olfactory fatigue
2. Expansion ratio of propane is 270:1
3. Tanks are filled to 80% capacity, so if this was a 500 gallon tank it was filled with 400 liquid gallons. 400 x 270 = lots of boom boom sauce.

I thought the ratio was closer to 268:1.

Posted
33 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

image.thumb.png.b2abfcb8747cedc92db0fc629d91fad2.png

image.thumb.png.5060fbab4c95b37633dc2e1030acfe2f.png

 

Yeah, that house on the right is a total loss.  And based on what I'd suspect home values in that area are, there goes your $1 million in builder's risk coverage -- the home that blew up and that house will deplete the policy and then some.

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Posted
1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

You do realize a very common residential propane tank has 500 gallon capacity?  Leak all that into a house and it's definitely a large bomb.

Propane ignites when the air to gas ratio allows it to ignite, but it needs a spark.

All gas, no air, no boom.q

Posted
2 hours ago, Surly Bevo said:

The homeowner who had yet to occupy the home as it was still under construction?  That homeowner?

If it was unoccupied, who did they pull out or was it from a neighboring house? 

Posted
47 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

image.thumb.png.5060fbab4c95b37633dc2e1030acfe2f.png

 

My partner's house is outside this photo at the southeast side.  She's across the street from the big house with the pool at the lower right, and while you can't see any damage from this aerial view, she said the back side of that house was blown in and the structural damage is so significant that the owners might have to tear down most or all of the house.  She also said that there are parts of the exploded house hanging from all the trees that separate the two homes.

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Posted
7 minutes ago, Willfully Horn said:

Propane ignites when the air to gas ratio allows it to ignite, but it needs a spark.

All gas, no air, no boom.q

Sure.  My other thoughts are (a) they wouldn't need propane, they could be all-electric and (b) if they were truly a month out from occupancy, why would the propane tank have already been filled?  We had ours installed and filled on the day we moved in.

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Posted
1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

Sure.  My other thoughts are (a) they wouldn't need propane, they could be all-electric and (b) if they were truly a month out from occupancy, why would the propane tank have already been filled?  We had ours installed and filled on the day we moved in.

(a) you dumbass, there's no gas service there, of course they needed propane.  This guy agrees:

hank-hill-propane-salesmen.jpg

(b) yeah....that part doesn't make sense.  Seems like it would be one of the final things on the to-do list at completion (I suspect you'd maybe want it on in time to test any appliances running on it/related plumbing), but that's still a late-game thing.

Posted

So I’ve always wondered, I walk in to my house and smell gas, am I safe to get back in the car and crank the engine, and get the hell out of there? Or is even that no bueno and just just start running and call 911 when a safe distance away?

Posted
21 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Sure.  My other thoughts are (a) they wouldn't need propane, they could be all-electric and (b) if they were truly a month out from occupancy, why would the propane tank have already been filled?  We had ours installed and filled on the day we moved in.

Austin building permit search shows that the final building inspection was passed last month so the tank was likely filled. 

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Posted
13 minutes ago, UTexasFight said:

So I’ve always wondered, I walk in to my house and smell gas, am I safe to get back in the car and crank the engine, and get the hell out of there? Or is even that no bueno and just just start running and call 911 when a safe distance away?

I've always heard to open all the doors and windows, call 911 and then spark a fat cigar and throw it in the direction of the house.  

Posted
7 minutes ago, Jack Handey said:

Austin building permit search shows that the final building inspection was passed last month so the tank was likely filled. 

But did you check the tower logs, for Christ sake?

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Posted
34 minutes ago, T-shirt Sip said:

If it was unoccupied, who did they pull out or was it from a neighboring house? 

I mean, you could listen to the one person on this thread that would know. 

6 hours ago, TKthunder2 said:

We don’t have natural gas in that area, the only city service is water so just about everyone has a propane tank. We assume that’s what it was but not certain.

I’ve met the husband but don’t really know the family. But some of our friends do.

It’s not a meth lab, it was a brand new never lived in house, construction subs were going in and out near everyday. The family hadn’t moved it yet but the owner was there when it went up. It’s his car under the rubble. He was taken to the hospital but saw on the news that he’s doing okay.

All the houses around front (mine)/back side/side had pretty bad damage. The side one closest to DK Ranch had their side wall collapse and the lady in there was taken to the hospital. 

Posted
3 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

He was taken to the hospital but saw on the news that he’s doing okay

You’d think the doctors would have the decency to tell him that. 

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Posted
16 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

I've always heard to open all the doors and windows, call 911 and then spark a fat cigar and throw it in the direction of the house.  

And then walk away in slow motion.

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Posted
10 minutes ago, Not a cat said:

So my RV has an internal LP tank of a few gallons for heating and cooking.  I mean I've always known that was obviously flammable, but how big of a bomb am I driving around with?

 

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Not a cat said:

So my RV has an internal LP tank of a few gallons for heating and cooking.  I mean I've always known that was obviously flammable, but how big of a bomb am I driving around with?

With the right air/gas combo, your bomb will boom bigly.

 

Csb/ while working in my studio, I heard a boom as my studio shook. First thought was a large branch had fallen on its roof. Went out to check, and saw the guy who owns the house next door on his back, and on my property. His pants, near the cuff, were on fire. There was a two gallon gas container near his burn pile, which was easily forty feet from where he lay. He tried to restart his burn by pouring gasoline on the fire.

First, I extinguished the fire at the nozzle of the gas, then I looked to see if he needed assistance. He drove himself to the doctor. /csb

Posted
1 minute ago, Herbie Hancock said:

Odds are astronomically higher that you’re gonna wreck that thing long before the propane cylinder presents any issues.

 

Also....get yourself a sex tent.  Trust us.

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Posted

image.thumb.png.729778e59a90a102ad52a572930cb9eb.png

 

My propane game is weak.  Is 400 gallons of liquid enough to level a house?

 I don't know how much natural gas was in the basement of the school in New London.  Killed 298 students in 1937.  My grandparents were at the scene helping look for survivors.   

My only experience is shooting a 5 gallon tank from 100 yards with a 30/06.  Only made a hole and spewed propane.  No explosion or fire.

Posted
41 minutes ago, Herbie Hancock said:

Odds are astronomically higher that you’re gonna wreck that thing long before the propane cylinder presents any issues.

We get one chucklefuck running an RV and sex tent into a low-hanging bridge and all of the sudden everyone is likely to wreck their RV rather than have it spontaneously combust on us as we’re cruising America in the far left lane at 55mph? Speak for yourself, sir. 

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