Comments on: Dallas had explosive gas this morning.

Dallas had explosive gas this morning.

punkfloyd — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:53:19 -0800

A bunch of natural gas canisters blew up near downtown Dallas today. Eyewitness video!

By: davejay

davejay — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:57:30 -0800

Link fails for me, Firefox 1.5.

By: tkchrist

tkchrist — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:58:24 -0800

This is why I feel so strongly about only purchasing propane and propane accessories.

By: jefeweiss

jefeweiss — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:02:21 -0800

Thanks! I had heard about this, but I couldn't find video anywhere that I looked.

By: OverlappingElvis

OverlappingElvis — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:04:09 -0800

Doesn't work for me either.

By: djrock3k

djrock3k — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:06:28 -0800

ooooh! pretty!! (if you ignore the fact of the gas cannisters being launched hither and yon like missiles. Literally missile sized and shaped. )

By: punkfloyd

punkfloyd — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:07:29 -0800

More details... WFAA-8
KXAS
KTVT
Dallas Morning News

By: lekvar

lekvar — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:08:40 -0800

Holy hell, that blowed up real good!

By: Cranberry

Cranberry — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:11:16 -0800

Did Debbie do that?

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:13:36 -0800

good god.

By: Mblue

Mblue — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:15:37 -0800

Amazing. The video is far enough away to catch the whole event from several different perspectives. This is either a stunt or arson. Where's the audio?

By: Plutor

Plutor — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:16:36 -0800

When are people going to realize that "Quicktime required", "RealPlayer required", and "Windows Video required" are equivalent to "please don't watch my video" nowadays?

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:18:38 -0800

This is why I feel so strongly about only purchasing propane and propane accessories. Butane is the bastard gas.

By: jeffamaphone

jeffamaphone — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:20:06 -0800

Hmm... maybe I shouldn't have left that propane tank in my car...

By: punkfloyd

punkfloyd — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:20:19 -0800

More footage, different angle. (May be proceeded by a Cadillac commercial...sorry).

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:21:08 -0800

video worked for me (ff 2.0) thanks. I was looking also for video.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:24:32 -0800

This was a welding gas distributor right around two major highways. Conveniently, it's surrounded by gas stations and liqueur stores. I actually work around there but decided not to go in today. It's gonna be interesting to see the aftermath tomorrow.

By: mullingitover

mullingitover — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:26:39 -0800

Wow, this was a great preview for Burning Man.

By: punkfloyd

punkfloyd — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:28:42 -0800

Longer unedited version with more 'splosions. OK, I will stop now.

By: jefbla

jefbla — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:29:19 -0800

Whoa. That sum bitch done got blowed up.

By: quarter waters and a bag of chips

quarter waters and a bag of chips — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:29:48 -0800

we should clearly ban all flammable gas, god only knows what this stuff could do in the hands of an islamofascist jihadist!@#!@#

By: punkfloyd

punkfloyd — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:30:35 -0800

OK just one more. Here is how it started.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:31:16 -0800

GODDAMNIT! They only blew up a very small part of Dallas!

By: Mblue

Mblue — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:32:21 -0800

Thanks punkfloyd. Botteled or piped gas I think. The explosions actually reduce the heat of the fire for a few seconds.

By: Benway

Benway — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:34:29 -0800

Some pyros wet dream, I am sure. This happened right outside I-35 directly adjacent to downtown on industrial avenue. I work in the West End which is about a mile away. The explosions were surreal. I could actually see some of the flame balls coming up over the buildings (the main explosions lasted abvout 10 - 12 mins.) That was really the weirdest part, this happening directly adjacent to downtown, and gas bottles and debris getting thrown on to I-35 and the old Zang bridge. This is the second major fire in the same area in a few weeks. I am thinking we done grewn us up n' arsonist here in Dallas or one of those crazy baptists is trying to blow up all the liquor stores (Dallas is half-way dry... industrial is one of the few streets that is still wet)

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:39:13 -0800

As I understand it, it was an equipment failure having something to do with a tank on a truck. When it first started the owner of the place was trying to cool down the tanks with a little water hose, which was funny to watch. You know, before he was horribly burned.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:44:39 -0800

GODDAMNIT! They only blew up a very small part of Dallas! posted by loquacious Ya know, I live near Dallas...and I had that same reaction. I was all "goddamn it, that's not even the part of town that needs blowin' up!" (First question from one of my friends: Did it take any MBAs with it? No? Fuck it, then.) As a fun addendum, last I heard, the mix masters where every single freeway feeds is still closed. The entire city is going to be a massive parking lot if they don't open the freeways in time for rush hour. So, that'll be fun.

By: ericb

ericb — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:49:14 -0800

god only knows what this stuff could do in the hands of an islamofascist jihadist!@#!@# Big concern here in Boston: Study spells out high toll on city in LNG attack.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:55:21 -0800

Oh cool, the physics in Halo are real.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:58:07 -0800

Anyone see the odd fireball traveling to the right in this video about six minutes in?

By: delmoi

delmoi — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:58:49 -0800

(at about 6:15-6:25)

By: punkfloyd

punkfloyd — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:02:06 -0800

delmoi: I believe those are the canisters or their lids shooting off.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:06:22 -0800

Those are welding tanks. Apparently they were flying all over the place like missiles.

By: Muddler

Muddler — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:07:30 -0800

When are people going to realize that "Quicktime required", "RealPlayer required", and "Windows Video required" are equivalent to "please don't watch my video" nowadays? You're right - the 90 or 95% of the world running Windows obviously means you can't rely on windows video. You'd think there is just some vast conspiracy making you download and install free software to play back these free videos - fascists.

By: mattbucher

mattbucher — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:07:31 -0800

Best Michael Bay film I've ever seen.

By: bardic

bardic — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:12:49 -0800

Reminded me of the gas station blowing up at the beginning of the Dawn of the Dead re-make, actually.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:16:04 -0800

Sure, great...now they are not going to let me take my bottled gas containers with my carry on luggage... thanks a lot! How the hell am I supposed to grill the brats on that flight to L.A.!

By: mds35

mds35 — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:17:35 -0800

When are people going to realize that "Quicktime required", "RealPlayer required", and "Windows Video required" are equivalent to "please don't watch my video" nowadays? People who like to watch videos usually install those things. What's the problem? Also, works for me: Safari 3.0.2, WinXP Pro.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:17:49 -0800

"Reminded me of the gas station blowing up at the beginning of the Dawn of the Dead re-make, actually." or the boat blowing up at the end of the Dawn remake... (I had to say this 'cuz I was there when they did that scene..... )

By: ericb

ericb — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:18:53 -0800

You're right - the 90 or 95% of the world running Windows obviously means you can't rely on windows video. Exactly. NetApplications' research study (released yesterday):

Total Market Share Windows XP 81.94% Windows Vista 4.52% Windows 2000 4.00% Mac OS 3.52% MacIntel 2.48% Windows 98 1.14% Linux 0.71% Windows NT 0.66% Windows ME 0.59% Nintendo Wii 0.17% Unknown 0.07% Windows CE 0.06% Series60 0.02% Windows 95 0.02% Hiptop 0.02%

By: fandango_matt

fandango_matt — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:21:39 -0800

In a related story, the price of meth in the Dallas area just went up 5000%.

By: Debaser626

Debaser626 — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:27:06 -0800

Dallas Explosion

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:29:29 -0800

I'm watching the raw footage...I'm 16 minutes in and no one has shut down the freeway yet? That seems a bit lax. Yeah. The sight of the guy spraying the tanks at the start was brave but silly. We're talking stuff that once it gets going like that ain't gonna stop. When you weld with acetylene, you have to be careful how quickly or slowly you use the gas for fear of setting up a reaction.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:29:47 -0800

OK just one more. Here is how it started. That one is amazing.

By: Pantengliopoli

Pantengliopoli — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:30:11 -0800

Oh cool, the physics in Halo are real. Heh -- that's what I was thinking... I'm surprised, if this was compressed gas, that it burned that long. I would have thought that there would be one ginormous explosion once the tank was breached. Was anyone hurt (besides the poor, well-intentioned fellow who was trying to put it out for WAY too long)?

By: maxwelton

maxwelton — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:33:05 -0800

And that's only a 3-alarm fire?

By: davejay

davejay — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:35:54 -0800

Not to derail much, but regarding those folks who think "90%-95%" of users being able to view your content is sufficient -- are you the same people who don't take steps to make your site more accessible to, say, the blind (legally, not necessarily completely), because you only care about the 90%-95% of users who can see well?

By: fandango_matt

fandango_matt — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:38:56 -0800

posted by punkfloyd OK just one more. Here is how it started. posted by smackfu That one is amazing. Indeed. It's even better if you listen to Motorhead or Judas Priest while you watch it.

By: rollbiz

rollbiz — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:39:04 -0800

I didn't RTFAs, was the guy with the hose hurt? There were a few times that I was sure the explosions must've cooked him, but the water just kept on coming...

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:39:24 -0800

How long did it take the police to shut down I-35? Amazed to see traffic continue with keg-size shrapnel bombs flying around.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:39:26 -0800

"Dallas had explosive gas this morning." *burp* Sorry. Excuse me. =) I ate at Taco Bell again. My bad. I just can't resist their Zesty Chicken Bowls! I went to the laundromat today and the TV was on there and I walk by it and it's talking about Dallas blowing up. I live in Dallas, and I ain't heard no explosions all day. So I just walked right on by the TV and fed my quarters to the little beasties. Kinda weird I need to hear on the TV that something's happening in my own city, and I still question its legitimacy... or relevance. I'm a very self-absorbed individual, I've decided. I imagine when the end of the world comes, I'll behave about the same way. I'll wait until there's actual explosions in my immediate vicinity before I opt to panic. It'll be fun! I'll run around in circles and scream like a little girl. I'm looking forward to it. Maybe I'll wail and gnash my teeth, even. Pull out my hair. I'll announce to everyone in earshot that it's the end of the world, and some guy doing his laundry will be like, "yeah sure pull the other one." Plutor: "When are people going to realize that "Quicktime required", "RealPlayer required", and "Windows Video required" are equivalent to "please don't watch my video" nowadays?" Huh? I got all three of those installed on my machine, plus WinAmp and about a half a dozen others.

By: D.C.

D.C. — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:42:32 -0800

Like popcorn.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:43:31 -0800

Realplayer sucks, but wmp is built into windows, so it wasn't a problem for me. The "the whole thing" video is the only one I watched, and it was pretty sweet. It starts out like "oh, this is kinda interesting" then just gets crazier and crazier. I didn't RTFAs, was the guy with the hose hurt? There were a few times that I was sure the explosions must've cooked him, but the water just kept on coming... I was wondering why he bothered. But it looks like you can see someone running away near where the hose was coming from at one point.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:44:52 -0800

Two people were seriously burned (the two people from the gas distributor) and the driver of the truck got hurt trying to get the fuck out. And one reporter got hit with shrapnel, I think he's fine though.

By: Debaser626

Debaser626 — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:49:30 -0800

My favorite is the spinning splosion tank at about 4:40 in the last link

By: Debaser626

Debaser626 — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:50:56 -0800

Yeah... that guy... not so smart.Like peeing in a volcano

By: dios

dios — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:51:21 -0800

This was right outside my window. I watched it happen. So, for those of you who were hoping otherwise, I regret to inform you that the explosion did not get me.

By: Ufez Jones

Ufez Jones — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:52:16 -0800

The animal shelter where I adopted my dog is right by there. They had some shrapnel land in their parking lot. They've got a picture of the canister on their website. These aren't just little propane tanks that you attach to your grill. These are the nice five foot tall ones that my dad said weigh between 150 and 200 lbs when full. Fortunately, the SPCA is reporting that all the animals are okay and don't need to be moved. Amazing that only three people were hurt. Frankly, I'm a bit shocked that nobody got in a wreck on the highway as it was happening. Dallas drivers are pretty shitty without a pyrotechnic display distracting them.

By: quin

quin — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:54:33 -0800

:: In other news, quin categorically denies that there is any truth the the rumors that he has finished building an orbital death ray ::

By: dios

dios — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:54:55 -0800

Although I should note that once he backs off, the video was quite interesting to me to see from that point of view since my office was on the other side of the explosion so I was looking out one of those windows you see behind the smoke.

By: wildcrdj

wildcrdj — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:56:41 -0800

They should do this on the 4th of July every year, much better than fireworks. And you know, you can play WMV on Macs too. (Linux also has players, although none by MSFT).

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:58:01 -0800

I feel for the foolhardy fellow with the hose.

By: KokuRyu

KokuRyu — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:04:06 -0800

When it first started the owner of the place was trying to cool down the tanks with a little water hose, which was funny to watch. You know, before he was horribly burned. Everyone seems to have asked the same question by now, but did anyone get hurt? And where was the fire department? As well, it looked like a semi-trailer was on fire right at the start, and that set things off.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:07:05 -0800

They released the truck driver, he hurt his back. The two plant employees are still in the hospital, one in fair condition and one still in serious condition with burns on his upper body. The plant manager (the guy in serious condition) apparently also lived in the building. So now he's jobless and homeless.

By: schoolgirl report

schoolgirl report — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:09:34 -0800

I regret to inform you that the explosion did not get me. Yo Quinn, recalibrate that sucker, eh?

By: nomisxid

nomisxid — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:12:59 -0800

punkfloyd, great link on the raw footage. Love how the camera guy backs up a couple times after stuff flies over his head, yet there's the one guy around 8:15 who's standing what seems to be extremely close to the fire, no worries at all.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:13:38 -0800

For those who didn't pick up on it: welding gas bottles. Acetylene, not natural gas or propane. Bottles, not tanks.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:14:53 -0800

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:15:51 -0800

That video was so exciting my own gas cannister exploded.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:17:02 -0800

Acetylene, hydrogen, helium and oxygen is what they're saying now.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:26:59 -0800

The helium canisters get the best airtime.

By: spish

spish — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:28:19 -0800

what? nobody's mentioned terrorism yet?

By: tehloki

tehloki — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:40:07 -0800

TERRORISM!

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:54:08 -0800

They were just talking to one of the employees on the news who said that once the first tank exploded he started running like hell for a mile. Also, the back of his work shirt has the plant name and the words "Safety first!" printed on it. He also said the tanks weigh 60 pounds.

By: bwg

bwg — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:57:10 -0800

Not terrified in the least.

By: rollbiz

rollbiz — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:57:23 -0800

I was wondering why he bothered. But it looks like you can see someone running away near where the hose was coming from at one point. It's been mentioned a few times, but I'll add: What I strongly suspect he was trying to do was to cool the surrounding tanks, rather than fight the main fire. A somewhat heroic (although very dangerous) decision assuming he had no fire retardant bunker gear. In my stint as a volunteer firefighter, if you're in a densely settled area and the original burning house is a lost cause, you turn some to most of your attention to wetting and cooling the nearby houses or whatever to keep them from going up as well, either from jumping embers or the sheer heat of the original blaze.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:35:00 -0800

The flying tanks were cool. But not nearly as cool as a fireworks factory fire in the Netherlands.

By: emjaybee

emjaybee — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:41:46 -0800

I was there! About 5 minutes after it started. Flames 100 feet high, (guessing) and an unearthly "whoosh" that sounded like a high-powered water hose aimed at metal...it was the gas burning, I suppose. Ash was falling on my car where the police had stopped me and the rest of the traffic, a block away. I had my baby son with me, so I'm glad none of the large flaming gas canisters I saw rocketing in the air, trailing fire, landed on us. The local news people were creaming their jeans, I have to tell you...usually the weather is the most exciting part of our news. Watching that idiot with the water hose on the news later...dude. You're not helping, leave already.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 16:45:44 -0800

C_D: really cool aside from the 23 dead and 950 injured.

By: WhipSmart

WhipSmart — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:38:04 -0800

a family member works at UT Southwestern (about 4mi from the explosion) and didn't know anything was happening until an hour later. She said she thought she heard thunder, but assumed it was just the construction going on inside the complex.

By: AloneOssifer

AloneOssifer — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 18:41:28 -0800

i can't believe nintendo wii has .17% browser market share

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:00:31 -0800

C_D: really cool aside from the 23 dead and 950 injured. Damn, I didn't know it was that many. I kinda figured there had to be at least a dozen, though. The large explosion at the end (whose shockwave knocked the videographer off his feet) was probably pushing enough air to crush the chests of anyone near it, never mind the insane heat. Still, can't really blame the fireworks company on that: the initial fire (+works) went on for a long ass time before the stockroom finally blew. Probably a few thousand gallons of nastiness under cryo. But that shit burns hot, and after that long, something's gotta give.

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:08:41 -0800

After actually getting around to watching the video footage... Nice. Close to downtown, so the cameradude was able to get Reunion Tower in the shot. I drive I-35 almost daily. Good thing today's my day off, or I mighta been knee deep in the traffic. A week or so ago I saw smoke coming from some buildings to the east of I-35, again just south of Reunion Tower, but there weren't any explosions that time. Today's footage looks to be west of I-35. That bridge looks familiar. Looks to be near Industrial Blvd. About 25 seconds in the guy who goes to inspect the cannister that's on fire? I'm hoping he's not a native Texan, cuz that'd just make us look all manner of stupid.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:26:28 -0800

Woooaah... so I was poking around YouTube and found a much better video of the fireworks factory explosion in the Netherlands. It's an interview (in Dutch, I'm guessing) with the guy who shot the video. It's shot from maybe five blocks away from the factory in the streets. He seeks refuge inside after one of the early explosions, then is crazy enough to step outside during the lull right before the entire factory goes up in a mushroom cloud. Fucking nuts.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:49:54 -0800

Here's the place on google maps.

By: ilsa

ilsa — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:32:45 -0800

And the AP reporting was really bad.

By: quin

quin — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 21:05:57 -0800

Civil_D, I was just watching your 'much better video' and I kept expecting the Statue of Liberty's head to come flying out. This video remains one of the most impressive explosions I've ever seen. That you can clearly see the shockwave shoot across the desert is amazing to me.

By: jouke

jouke — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:23:28 -0800

C_D; your last comment makes you sound like an asshole. You read gnfti's comment right?

By: pax digita

pax digita — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:56:18 -0800

Anybody remember the marshmallows?

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 05:05:10 -0800

C_D; your last comment makes you sound like an asshole. You read gnfti's comment right? Uh huh. You read mine, right? Where exactly is the assholishness you're talking about?

By: delmoi

delmoi — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:22:31 -0800

I can't belive they built a fireworks factory in the middle of a residential area

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:51:22 -0800

Probably a few thousand gallons of nastiness under cryo. Yeah, and then there's the tinfoil hat notion that they had stored faulty land mines in there as well (a rumour brought into the world, if memory serves, by a single journalist five years after the fact and without any independent witnesses ever coming to the fore, so I find it hard to believe). Oh, and no needle moving on my assholery detector, C_D.

By: TedW

TedW — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:57:40 -0800

After seeing how close this place is to Dealey plaza, and noting the uncanny resemblanc to George Romero films, I come to the inescapable conclusion that Zombie JFK is behind this.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 05:19:41 -0800

There's actually a much better video I discovered later on the Enschede disaster (the fireworks factory explosion). It was done by the Discovery Channel; the voiceover is English, as are many of the interviews (since nearly everyone speaks English in Holland), though not all. Still, it's enough to get a good understanding of the fire's impact on the city. All six parts here on YouTube. And jouke, so you understand, I am simultaneously recognizing that it is a tragic event while at the same time am, like any other normal human being, fascinated by it. You don't often see the results of that much explosive force within urban confines except during times of war, and even then this explosion would have rivaled a lot of what the U.S. military has on stock. That you can clearly see the shockwave shoot across the desert is amazing to me. Watch the Discovery Channel videos and you'll see a shockwave from the Enschede explosion as well. There were two or three different cameras that caught the whole thing, so you can see it from many different angles. The Discovery Channel episode even has a 3D simulation of the city that shows you the position of the camera operators in relation to the actual factory.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 09:18:30 -0800

Huh. I'm at work, so I can't give it a thorough viewing (or hear the audio), but that looks really interesting, even FPP-worthy. Thanks for digging it up, C_D.