Explosion In Bemus Point

Natural Gas Buildup Identified As Likely Cause

By Robert Rizzuto rrizzuto@post-journal.com
BEMUS POINT — Blankets of thick smoke, visible for miles, billowed from Bemus Point on Monday after a morning explosion left a seasonal home in ruin.

Neighbors watched in awe as emergency crews spent hours battling flames left over from the 10 a.m. blast that destroyed the single-family home at 5 Liberty St.

According to Jon Stahley, county deputy fire coordinator, the house exploded due to a natural gas buildup inside the residence while an investigation into the explosion’s specific cause is under way.

No one was inside the home at the time of the blast, but two town of Ellery equipment operators suffered minor injuries.

‘‘I had three guys down there putting in some pipe and catch basins for the village,’’ said Greg Hallberg, Ellery highway superintendent. ‘‘The one on the backhoe got a slight burn to his face, but he’s doing OK now.’’

Hallberg said the backhoe operator was taken to WCA Hospital, treated and released, while the other injured worker was treated on the scene.

‘‘The were all pretty shook up and we sent them home,’’ Hallberg said. ‘‘Luckily, no one was injured too badly.’’

Stahley said that although the situation was bad, it could have been a lot worse.

‘‘The gas explosion completely destroyed the building,’’ Stahley said. ‘‘We were lucky enough to have the winds blowing the way they were, to minimize damage to the surrounding structures.’’

An adjacent building owned by Lakeside Bible Chapel suffered only minor damage to the rear of the building, as it was ultimately protected by the strength and direction of the wind.

National Fuel workers shut off gas to most of the village while National Grid turned off power to areas occupied by firefighters.

Traffic was rerouted for several hours, not allowing vehicles to travel on portions of Route 430.

The one-and-a-half story home was a seasonal dwelling, according to Stahley.

Mutual aid was provided by several departments, including Ashville, Dewittville, Ellery and Maple Springs.

‘‘It was a great team effort, and the firefighters did a good job protecting the surrounding buildings,’’ Stahley said. ‘‘I’m always amazed that more people aren’t hurt with these gas explosions.’’

According to Stahley, the county Sheriff’s Fire Investigation Unit is working to determine if the Town of Ellery’s digging in the area around Liberty Street was in any way related to the incident.

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STUDENT SAFETY

Staff and students at Bemus Point Elementary School may not have heard the explosion — but they felt it.

‘‘They didn’t hear the boom,’’ Principal Scott Sawyer said. ‘‘They felt the shockwaves. They felt the shake, but there was no sound.’’

Still, heavy smoke from the explosion forced the school, located just blocks from the blast, to evacuate the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade wing to another part of the school.

‘‘Once they started putting the fire out, they created a tremendous amount of smoke,’’ Sawyer said. ‘‘We shut our vents down, closed the windows and tried to do the best we could to keep the smoke out of the building.’’

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RUDE AWAKENING

Tim Bartell was lying peacefully in his bed — until a loud bang served as an unfamiliar alarm clock.

‘‘I first looked out and saw a bluish-white smoke in the air, but no flames,’’ said Bartell, who lives about 40 feet from the blast. ‘‘Then about 30 seconds later, I saw flames coming from the roof of the house.

‘‘Within no more than one minute, the entire house was engulfed, and I would say within 30 seconds after that, it was already visible to the inside and flames and smoke poured.’’

Bartell said his family was staying at the Comfort Inn for the evening, as they their house reeked of smoke.

Another neighbor said after hearing the initial boom, it took a mere minutes before the house was gone.