First came a warning, then came the blast By ELIZABETH CAMPBELL liz@star-telegram.com

A homeowner who was inside his Cleburne house when it exploded -- resulting in his wife’s death -- had been told not to light any more cigarettes just 45 minutes before the explosion, according to a city fire marshal's report.

David Pawlick called the Cleburne Fire Department's nonemergency number between 3:30 and 4 p.m. May 29, telling fire inspector Scott Oesch that "every time my wife lights a cigarette, a blue flame shoots up to the ceiling," according to a memo written by Oesch on May 31.

Oesch said he would check out the situation and told Pawlick not to light any more matches.

Pawlick's wife, Hazel, wanted to smoke "a quick cigarette" before the inspector arrived. Pawlick lit a match, Fire Marshal Bill Wright reported. There was a blue flash, and the match went out. He lit another match, and there was an explosion of blue flames throughout the house at 632 Woodard Ave.

Between 15 and 20 seconds later, after the fire penetrated the ceiling into the attic, there was a more violent explosion, ripping a huge hole in the roof.

Hazel Pawlick, 64, died June 2 from her injuries. Four other family members were injured.

How the gas got into the house

There had been a natural gas leak in front of the house for an undetermined amount of time, according to Wright's report. Because the ground was so wet from recent rains, the gas was unable to escape through the usual cracks and openings in the soil and dissipate. Instead, it moved farther underground, along a path next to a new waterline and eventually into a sewer line leading into the house.

The sewer line was made of clay tile, which is "by nature full of gaps and imperfections that would allow the gas to enter the line," according to the report.

A condensation line from an air-conditioning unit had been dropped into an open sewer pipe. Because the line was not sealed properly, the air-conditioning unit worked as a pump, drawing the natural gas from the sewer line and distributing it through air-conditioning ducts, Wright wrote.

Why the gas didn’t smell

Natural gas is odorless. For safety reasons, Atmos Energy adds an odorant to its product. The odorant, mercaptan, gives gas a sulfurlike smell.

The gas inside the Pawlicks' house didn't have an odor because "after traveling that far through soil and water the mercaptan ... could be washed or scrubbed out by the filtering action of the soil,” according to the report.

What happened at the house

The Pawlicks' house did not use natural gas; it was totally electric.

Pawlick told fire investigators that the only time anything seemed odd was when a cigarette was lit "and blue flames would shoot up to the ceiling."

Gas was accumulating in the attic and being blown throughout the house by air conditioning.

Pawlick called the Cleburne Fire Department's nonemergency number between 3:30 and 4 p.m., telling Oesch about the blue flames.

Oesch told Pawlick not to light any more matches. He did not, however, tell the family to leave the house. The report says the inspector did not feel it was necessary to "initiate an emergency response to the incident."

Cleburne City Manager Chester Nolen declined to comment further on why the Pawliks were not told to leave. "Everything is in the report," he said.

As they waited for Oesch, David Pawlick, Hazel Pawlick, Hazel Sanderson, Misty Sanderson, Stephanie Sanderson and Steve Sanderson sat in the family room. Pawlick lit a match for his wife's cigarette. A blue flame flashed, then went out.

Pawlick lit a second match, setting off an explosion, a "flash fire" throughout the house. Misty Sanderson ran out the front door, and David Pawlick ran out the back door. Steve Sanderson was pushing Hazel Sanderson toward the front door when the second explosion occurred, blowing them into the front yard.

Stephanie Sanderson and Hazel Pawlick were both in the house during the second explosion. They suffered severe burns.

Hazel Sanderson and Stephanie Sanderson remain in critical condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital, according to the family’s attorney, Dean Jackson.

The house was declared a total loss. The fire has been ruled accidental.

Lawsuit pending

Pawlick has sued Atmos, blaming the gas leak for the blast. He is seeking unspecified damages.

Jackson said the fire marshal's report confirms that the gas leak in the street caused the explosion. "It also confirms that the odorant was not detectable and that our client would have no idea of what was happening because he didn't have gas service," Jackson said.

He declined to comment on the inspector's claim that Pawlik was told not to light any more cigarettes. "We are not going to know the sequence of events until we put people under oath and take depositions," Jackson said.

Atmos Energy spokesman Rand LaVonn said that because of pending litigation, he could not comment on the report.

Elizabeth Campbell, 817-390-7696

Submitted on 07/16/2007

Submitted by: Steve Landess
Reference: Fort Worth Star-Telegram 7/10/2007

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Definitely Toss: Repeat
Thanks for sending this in! As it turns out, we already have this story under consideration, and there’s no new or additional information in your submission. Nevertheless, we DO greatly appreciate your efforts and encourage you to consider submitting again in the future!

Chip said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
Steve, we already have this story but yours provides a myriad of details not available before so I am marking this one for Darwin to see. Thanks for sending it in.

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: For Darwin's Eyes
I believe that this provides a much more thorough timeline and description of what happened than any of the other submissions we've accepted so I agree that we should save it for Darwin. Thanks, Steve.

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