Your Options Following Gas Explosions

September 19, 2014

Your options following gas explosions

Natural gas is one of the most common home energy sources in Pennsylvania. It heats your home and provides fuel to use for cooking your and heating water. However, it does have its risks; certain circumstances can lead to a gas explosion, potentially destroying a home.

If this has happened to your home, it may have led to injuries and property damage, leading to unexpected medical expenses and home repair costs. Your household may have even lost a loved one because of a natural gas explosion. If so, you could seek legal representation if you wish to recover associated costs.

Many different factors can contribute to gas explosions. For instance, natural gas is odorless, but gas companies are required to add a distinctive odor as a safety precaution. If a gas pipe leaks and the odor has not been added, you may not know that there is a gas leak until it ignites. An explosion can also occur if a stove has a faulty shut-off valve that causes dangerous gas buildups. These complications might be hard to detect after a fire or explosion has already caused significant property damage.

Depending on how an explosion occurred, different parties could be held liable. In the first example, the gas company would have been negligent in not adding the odor or not monitoring the homeowner’s excessive gas usage, which could indicate a leak. The appliance manufacturer could be responsible if you have experienced the second example. Following gas explosions, we try to uncover and preserve evidence of how an incident occurred. After that, we consider a fair compensation amount and advocate on your behalf. Please visit our page on explosions for more information on your legal options.