The Latest: Gas leak from abandoned pipe caused fatal blast

FIRESTONE, Colo. — The Latest on a fatal house explosion in northern Colorado (all times local):

2:50 p.m.

Fire officials say a fatal house explosion in northern Colorado was caused by unrefined natural gas that was leaking from a small abandoned pipeline from a nearby well.

Ted Poszywak, chief of the Frederick-Firestone fire department, said Tuesday the April 17 explosion in Firestone that killed two people and left another badly burned happened when the odourless gas in the old line, which had been cut, leaked into the soil and made its way into the home's basement.

Investigators do not know how or when the small pipe was cut. The house was within 200 feet (60 metres) of the well, and the pipeline was buried about 7 feet (2.1 metres) underground.

The well was drilled in 1993, and the house and others nearby were built later.

Firestone is about 30 miles (48.2 kilometres) north of Denver.

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10:50 a.m.

Firefighters are planning to discuss their investigation into a fatal house explosion near a gas well in Colorado.

Investigators scheduled a news conference for Tuesday on the April 17 explosion in Firestone that killed two people and left another badly burned.

The house was within 200 feet (60 metres) of a well, but investigators haven't yet said whether the well was involved.

State regulators planned to test the soil for evidence of underground leaks from the well but haven't released the results.

The well was drilled in 1993 and the house and others nearby were built later.

The state regulates the distance between new wells and existing homes, but local governments control how close new houses can be built to existing wells. In Firestone, the requirement is 150 feet.

The Associated Press

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