Significant leakage of natural gas inside the Oxford Veterans Memorial Civic Center (28 N. Washington St.) brought out the Oxford Fire Dept. shortly before 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
‘The cleaning people opened up the building, smelled the odor of (natural) gas and called us,? said Fire Chief Jack LeRoy. ‘There was a heavy concentration of gas in the building. The worst was in the lower area ? the bingo hall, senior center area (on the first floor).
Apparently, the source was one of the building’s two rooftop heating units.
‘On one of them, the gas valve (was) stuck in the open position ? probably something to do with the cold weather, but we don’t know for sure,? LeRoy said. ‘It kept dumping raw gas out into the atmosphere.?
An air intake near the leak drew the gas back into the building, commonly known as the Vets Hall, filling it with a ‘pretty heavy concentration,? the chief explained.
As far as the danger level, LeRoy said ‘it was probably too rich (a gas concentration) to ignite in the building.?
‘It was at the point where it was denser than what it takes to ignite,? he said.
?(Natural gas) has a range it will ignite it,? LeRoy explained. If the air contains anywhere from 4 to 14 percent natural gas, it can ignite.
‘Above or below that, it doesn’t usually ignite,? LeRoy said. Once it’s above that concentration, it won’t ignite ‘unless oxygen gets mixed in.?
LeRoy believes the Vets Hall exceeded the dangerous concentration level fairly quickly, meaning it went ‘right by the lower explosive level without igniting.?
But that’s not to say there wasn’t any danger. ‘There could have been a danger of it exploding had somebody not paid attention to what it was. Yeah, it could have easily exploded,? the chief said.
The fire department shut the gas off and ventilated the building. Consumers Energy came out and found the cause.
A furnace company hired by the township came out and replaced the faulty valve.