houses are exploding in MA ....

[newracer]

I cannot think of a reason that this would happen. Over pressure of lines?

[buffalobo]

I cannot think of a reason that this would happen. Over pressure of lines?

Xactly correct.

[Grant H.]

I cannot think of a reason that this would happen. Over pressure of lines?

Poor valves - good valves are expensive.
Poor regulators - made worse with high line pressure
Poor work from union monkeys

[rondog]

I work in telecom, fiber maintenance, and we see cables get hit weekly by underground boring rigs. Fiber cables, electrical cables, water pipes - and gas pipes.

My guess is a gas main was damaged underground by something, possibly a boring rig, and gas started pouring out of it and running along outside the pipe, underground. It then started escaping where it could, alongside the smaller pipes feeding into homes and businesses.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Etc.....

[CS1983]

[MarkCO]

It was a very old system. There are a myriad of ways that lines can be overpressured resulting in failures. Gas line failures happen almost daily in the US, even in CO. I have three open cases I am working on right here in Colorado. One line was slated for replacement for 3 years, had leaked several times, but took an explosion for it to finally get replaced. Gas company was fined by the PUC, but that does not undue the damage. The multiple fires/explosions point to a systemic issue in the MA case.