A Gaseous, Fiery Inferno

I've mentioned before that one of my biggest fears is my house exploding due to leaky gas pipes.

I feel like they are more common than ever this year, and that concerns this neurotic wife! My co-worker says her next house will be electric heat for this very reason. (Although my feeling is, unless you can guarantee your neighbors' houses are also electric, you're still at risk of explosion.)

The Boston Globe recently reported on my gut feeling. It makes me wonder if gas lines built years ago just aren't holding up. Has the recession caused gas companies to delay repairs?

The Globe reports, "These blasts, killing three and injuring one, have served as a reminder of the dangers associated with the massive underground pipe system tunneling beneath streets and delivering a flammable product to nearly 1.5 million customers in the state. The system's 21,000 miles of gas main would be nearly enough to travel around the circumference of the Earth. More than a third of the system relies on old, antiquated pipes."

Yikes.