Gas Explosion Graphic, Centralia, MO

St. Louis Globe Democrat
Frank Helms

1982-01-30

graphic

Towns

Centralia (Mo.)
Missouri

1980-1989

How it happened: Federal investigators were focusing Friday on the failure of the safety valve (4) to avoid sending explosively high pressure gas to homes and businesses in the Centralia, Mo. disaster. The regulator (3), designed to reduce incoming gas at 40 pounds per square inch to about 4 ounces per square inch for use in the feeder lines to homes, let gas through at higher pressure, as it's supposed to when the pressure gauge (2) reads zero. But the safety valve failed to reduce pressure levels, turning pilot lights into blowtorches.

Items in the UMSL Digital Library are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. The contents of the UMSL Digital Library are made publicly available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Some fees may apply. Although the nature of archival and manuscript materials sometimes makes it difficult to determine the copyright status of an item, it is the user's responsibility to use them according to all applicable terms. Please contact the contributing partner for additional information regarding copyright status of a particular digital image, text, data set, or sound or video recording.

Centralia MO 1982001

St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University of Missouri-St. Louis