O'FALLON, Mo. — Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of a devastating home explosion in O’Fallon, Missouri.
On March 1, 2022, a family was inside their home on Millers Court when they smelled gas. They managed to get out before an explosion across the street completely destroyed their home.
The explosion was the result of a Gateway Fiber contractor striking a Spire natural gas line while digging to install fiber optic cables in the O’Fallon subdivision. The contractor stopped immediately and contacted Spire Energy, who quickly arrived, evacuated the area and attempted to repair the line. During the repair, an explosion occurred.
About 40 homes, some as far as a mile away, were damaged by the gas explosion, and smoke could be seen for miles afterward. While there were no injuries, many were left hurting financially.
In response to 5 On Your Side inquiries regarding the explosion, Gateway Fiber issued the following statement:
In difficult situations like this, many sources of potential compensation are available based on the safeguards the homeowners have in place. Homeowners had insurance protecting them, and the subcontractor performing work at the time of the accident had the insurance that is required to perform this sort of work. We understand the desire for swift compensation, and the insurance process is the best way to get that. For our part, Gateway immediately terminated the subcontractor performing the drilling work, and we have worked with safety experts and our community leaders to develop several additional safety measures focused on on-site, real-time quality audits and extra measures to ensure visual references to workers during underground boring.
An Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation shortly after the explosion found Gateway Fiber did not violate OSHA standards or regulations and determined its contractors followed utility markings provided by Spire, and Spire told the I-Team areas to dig were marked correctly.
Spire shared the following statement with 5 On Your Side regarding the explosion:
At Spire, safety is a core value and last March’s incident reinforces the importance of safety when digging near natural gas lines. On March 1, 2022, a third party excavator hit a gas line in an O’Fallon, MO subdivision. Once notified, we took immediate action and worked with the O’Fallon Fire Department to evacuate nearby homes and stop the leak. Our work to stop the leak did not cause the incident that damaged homes in the subdivision. Our crews stopped the leak, repaired the damage to our facilities and restored service to unaffected homes. Fortunately, no one was injured and we thank the fire department for their professionalism and hard work that saved lives. The leading cause of damage to natural gas lines is digging by excavators. We want to emphasize the four steps for safe digging:
Step 1: Make the call. Dial 811 to request that your project area be marked. The call and the locating services are free.
Step 2: Pause. You should call at least three days before you plan to dig. A locator will come by and mark the pipelines that could be impacted by your project. That way, you know when to be careful and everyone stays safe.
Step 3: Follow the marks. Spire lines will be marked with yellow flags and/or spray paint. If the marks fade before you begin your project, simply dial 811 again to have them remarked.
Step 4: Dig with care. Be careful when digging around the markers to avoid accidentally damaging buried lines.
Even a small gouge, scrape, dent or crease can cause a future rupture or leak. The only way to make sure that pipeline is safe for use is to have an expert at Spire repair the damage. And if you smell gas, leave the area immediately and call 911.
The Stout family was one of many impacted by the explosion. They told the I-Team in January that, due to the depreciation of their home’s original value, their home insurance company is only offering them a little over $60,000 to cover $400,000 in repairs. They set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with expenses to repair the home they’ve lived at for 21 years, and as of Tuesday, they had raised a little over $2,000.
Gateway Fiber only had about $1 million in insurance coverage, the Stouts told 5 On Your Side, and that money will likely go to the family whose home exploded. That family sold their lot and moved on, but families like the Stouts are still fighting in court.
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