Residents of the Westminster neighborhood where a home exploded Jan. 19 because of a gas leak demanded answers from Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. last night.
But BGE officials couldn't provide what many at the community meeting seemed to want: to undo the explosion that destroyed one home, damaged 65 others and caused more than $1 million in damage. No one was injured.
"Hindsight is 20/20. This was a tragic incident," Edwin W. Skoglin III, manager of gas engineering and construction, told about 150 people at the National Guard Armory on Hahn Road. "We are out to learn something from this, and we're trying."
Patti Keller of West Sunshine Way organized the meeting to help Autumn Ridge neighbors better deal with the aftermath of the blast. In surance, home improvement and county government officials also spoke.
Residents asked what BGE is doing to avoid another explosion, why the neighborhood wasn't evacuated and whether their property values would decline.
The explosion occurred after contractors working in the neighborhood hit a gas pipe. Gas leaked for about 90 minutes, making its way into a vacant house at 90 Sunshine Way, where it was ignited by a spark from a basement sump pump.
The Maryland Public Service Commission found that workers for Apollo Trenching Co. of Ellicott City may have ignored above-ground markings while installing an underground cable television line.
Ken Ireland of Snowfall Way said he spoke to the workers in the morning before they started digging. They were spreading equipment on his lawn and explained what they planned to do, he said.
They told him they couldn't decipher the Miss Utility markings on the grass, he said.
"I said, 'If you don't know what the hell they are, don't do anything,' " Mr. Ireland said.
He then left for work.
"I was concerned, but who's going to think your house is going to blowup?" he said.
Mr. Ireland and his wife, Linda, and their two children are living in an apartment because their house was extensively damaged by the explosion. He said his insurance company does not want to pay to rebuild the home.
Mr. Skoglin, who brought the ruptured pipe to show residents, said, "I wish Apollo was here."
BGE representative Frank Wanken said, "We have called them, and their attorney will not share their insurance information with us. We feel they are at fault."
Residents repeatedly asked why BGE workers did not break into the house at 90 Sunshine Way, which was for sale and vacant, and why they did not evacuate the neighborhood.
"We can't break into houses," Mr. Skoglin said. "At the time, we didn't know how serious it was."
"Where did you think the gas was going?" asked Steve Salkin of Snowfall Way.
More than a handful of residents should have been told about the gas leak so that they would have had the opportunity to leave the neighborhood, he said.
Mr. Skoglin said BGE is reviewing its policies and safety manuals as a result of the explosion.
"We probably learned a lot from this. In the future, we're going to send more people out on the first response," he said.
He defended the company's response and repeated that the accident was the fault of Apollo Trenching.
"This was not a bad response. It was not the best we've ever done and certainly not the worst," Mr. Skoglin said.