STAFFORD TOWNSHIP GAS EXPLOSION INVESTIGATION FINDINGS

On Tuesday, February 24, 2015, at 8:55 am, the Stafford Township Police and Fire Departments were dispatched for a strong smell of a natural gas odor at the intersection of Route 9 South and Oak Avenue in Stafford Township.  Upon their arrival emergency personnel met with employees of New Jersey Natural Gas and detected the strongest odor in front of 55 Oak Avenue.  Stafford Police and Fire immediately began evacuating the surrounding structures, while personnel from New Jersey Natural Gas attempted to locate the source of the odor.

At approximately 10:32 am, employees of NJNG were attempting to access the 2″ gas main located in front of 59 Oak Avenue, when the structure exploded.  Emergency personnel immediately conducted a rescue of all personnel in the area injured by the blast.  Injured most seriously in the blast was NJNG employee, Dean Barnett, 47, of Stafford who was airlifted to Atlantic Care in Atlantic City and is listed in critical condition.  Additionally, Southern Ocean County Hospital received two (2) NJNG employees for non-life threatening injuries and three (3) NJNG employees for observation.  Six (6) Stafford Fire Department Firefighters were transported to Southern Ocean County Hospital for observation.  Stafford Township Police Department will be issuing a comprehensive list naming all those injured and updating conditions later today.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Arson Unit, with assistance from Stafford Township Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department CSI, and Ocean County Fire Marshall, partnered to conduct the investigation into the origin and cause of the explosion.  An extensive scene examination was conducted and revealed that the explosion originated in the northeast corner basement utility room of 59 Oak Avenue.  The cause of the explosion was determined to be accidental by natural gas leaking from a 2″ natural gas main in the street of Oak Avenue, communicating along the water main into the basement of the structure and ultimately igniting from an open flame of the structure’s utilities causing the explosion.

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