Brookline Manhole Explosions: Utilities, Fire Still Investigating

BROOKLINE, MA — Utility crews are still investigating a day after explosions on Route 9 near the corner of Cypress Street shook buildings and had at least one driver convinced another car had hit his. No one was injured, but many people were on edge, recalling the Andover gas explosions last winter. Manhole Explosions In Brookline Shut Down Route 9

Brookline Fire Chief John Sullivan was quick to caution against placing the blame squarely on natural gas.

"We still don't know exactly the cause of what occurred within those manholes," said Sullivan. "It's not as cut and dry as people would like it to be, and nothing has been ruled out. But I don't want people to jump to conclusions that this an Andover type of situation. It certainly is not."

Sullivan said statistically there are more fires caused by electrical problems rather than gas. Brookline DPW Commissioner Andrew Pappastergion said it looked more like an electrical issue at this point.

"Every one was right away pointing the finger at a gas leak, but they've been doing leak detection all night and they can't find any [major] gas leaks up there," he told Patch. "It was a bit premature. We're not quite sure what the cause is up there, but we've got some of the best guys looking into it."

The fire department got a call at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday that Carbon Monoxide detectors were going off in several buildings. When they arrived, the firefighters found the power had gone off, and tripped the detectors.

"This is not an unusual occurrence," said Sullivan.

That's when the manholes exploded: Four of them along Route 9. There was no fire, Sullivan told Patch.

The fire department called National Grid and Eversource, which cut power and came to investigate in and around the manholes as firefighters went door to door in the immediate vicinity to check basements. Firefighters didn't find any CO2, and residents were able to go back into their homes rather quickly, said the chief.

"We didn't find any gas in any of the buildings, that's obviously our first concern," he said.

Build up of gas inside a building becomes dangerous. In this case, it's not an issue, he said.

The utilities did not detect anything unusual in and around the manholes that exploded. Part of that may be because the area under the manholes were vented when they exploded, said Sullivan. But in their expanded search a quarter mile away crews detected a Grade 3 leak down the road and across the street. Those were not in the same system as the manholes that exploded, said Sullivan.

"Whether those are part of what happened with last night's manholes or not that's yet to be determined," said Sullivan, who said the utilities were monitoring the area and crews had come in and dug up and started repair work on the Grade 3 leak near the hotel.

Sullivan said there appeared to be no sustained gas leak.

Pappastergion had crews blocking off streets and communicating with National grid and Eversource Wednesday night and worked hand in hand with police and fire.

Sullivan said crews from police fire, National Grid, Eversource were now continuing their investigation and recovery phase.

"It was confined to the street and the response was just the right level and things were mitigated in a very short period of time," said Sullivan.

Read more: Manhole Explosions In Brookline Shut Down Route 9

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).