Hubert Vassar (85) and Sharon Vassar (83) were killed when their house was destroyed by a gas explosion

[mdcastle]

Was waiting for them to determine the cause before posting this one:

https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/...use-explosion/

https://www.startribune.com/faulty-w...ple/600197214/

Obituary: https://www.startribune.com/obituari...il/0000432524/


"Faulty installation of a natural gas water heater by a Hopkins homeowner led to an explosion and fire that killed him and his wife in the house he built more than a half-century go, officials said Wednesday. Fire Chief Dale Specken [said] that Herb Vassar 'may have pulled out the gas dryer to get to and replace the water heater' in the basement of the home he built in 1961. 'We believe [he] replaced the water heater and put the dryer back in place and failed to attach the line to the dryer and turned on the gas to the water heater and dryer,' the chief continued, 'filling the basement full of gas and causing the explosion.'"

Hubert's FB: https://www.facebook.com/hubert.vassar
Sharon's FB https://www.facebook.com/smpvassar

[Boston Babe 73]

This is so, horribly sad. Just a simple mistake and they're gone

[raisedbywolves]

Oh man, what a sad story.

[Angiebla]

This is why my mom will never have gas appliances. Shes always been afraid of this.

[puzzld]

This is why my mom will never have gas appliances. Shes always been afraid of this.

Yeah. Gas is a mixed blessing in appliances.

[Bewitchingstorm]

What a precious couple. Very sad.

[Queenatoo]

That's such a horrific way to go.

[raisedbywolves]

This is why my mom will never have gas appliances. Shes always been afraid of this.

My first house had a gas stove and I was scared of it at first. Now I insisted on gas for our home build in 2018. I love it, but yes, you have to keep things maintained and there are things to watch out for that could be dangerous. It's so great to cook with and heat with though. We have it for our dryer, tankless hot water heater, stove, standby generator and will have it for the pool and firepit when we do that.

[Bewitchingstorm]

We have gas for our fireplaces and our stove. I love it, but likely will not have it when we move again just because it is a bit scary to think about.

[Boston Babe 73]

My first house had a gas stove and I was scared of it at first. Now I insisted on gas for our home build in 2018. I love it, but yes, you have to keep things maintained and there are things to watch out for that could be dangerous. It's so great to cook with and heat with though. We have it for our dryer, tankless hot water heater, stove, standby generator and will have it for the pool and firepit when we do that.

I also prefer gas for everything. It's much more cost efficient and better for the environment. However, yes, you have to do regular maintenance checks and have safety protocols in place.

[Angiebla]

My first house had a gas stove and I was scared of it at first. Now I insisted on gas for our home build in 2018. I love it, but yes, you have to keep things maintained and there are things to watch out for that could be dangerous. It's so great to cook with and heat with though. We have it for our dryer, tankless hot water heater, stove, standby generator and will have it for the pool and firepit when we do that.

My mom's great aunt's house blew up with her in it. So there is no talking her into it

Ive never had gas appliances, but I have heard they work better. Especially the stove.

[puzzld]

My mom's great aunt's house blew up with her in it. So there is no talking her into it

Ive never had gas appliances, but I have heard they work better. Especially the stove.

Yep. We had an apartment with an electric stove and I hated it. So different to cook with. And in blizzard country, if you have a gas stove top you can at least warm up soup. But there are risks. But then again, a friend of mine had a fire started by her electric water heater...

[Boston Babe 73]

Yep. We had an apartment with an electric stove and I hated it. So different to cook with. And in blizzard country, if you have a gas stove top you can at least warm up soup. But there are risks. But then again, a friend of mine had a fire started by her electric water heater...

That's the thing. There are dangers with all of it. We had comfort knowing that if the power was out, we would still have hot water and be able to cook. I prefer gas overall. I hear of more electrical fires than gas explosions all around so the rewards outweigh the risk IMHO.

[Queenatoo]

I much prefer cooking with gas than electric. You can control the temperature better, and the cooking is more even. If I had my choice I would most definitely go gas. As far as dryers, I don't have a preference.

[puzzld]

I much prefer cooking with gas than electric. You can control the temperature better, and the cooking is more even. If I had my choice I would most definitely go gas. As far as dryers, I don't have a preference.

My mom swears a gas dryer is faster and not so hard on your clothing, but I don't know how that could really work, so I think mom's been co opted by big gas in this.

[raisedbywolves]

My mom swears a gas dryer is faster and not so hard on your clothing, but I don't know how that could really work, so I think mom's been co opted by big gas in this.

I don't know about the 'hard on your clothes thing' but I do feel that my gas dryer is faster than the electric one I had. But maybe big gas has gotten to me too.

[curiouscat]

I don't trust gas.
Once upon a time, I decided to cook for my boyfriend (at the time). Up until that point, I had only ever used electric.
I turned the stove on. Nothing. I turned it off. I decided to turn it on again. Maybe, it was heating up? Finally, I gave up.
My boyfriend's roommate came home and told me I could've killed myself after I told him I was having problems with the stove.

[Boston Babe 73]

I don't trust gas.
Once upon a time, I decided to cook for my boyfriend (at the time). Up until that point, I had only ever used electric.
I turned the stove on. Nothing. I turned it off. I decided to turn it on again. Maybe, it was heating up? Finally, I gave up.
My boyfriend's roommate came home and told me I could've killed myself after I told him I was having problems with the stove.

Well, you don't turn on gas and leave it on if it didn't light. That's 100% operator error. Don't blame gas for that

[mdcastle]

Unfortunately "Not having gas" isn't really an option up here. Electric resistance heat costs about double what gas heat costs, so with how much heat we need it's not practical. Electric heat pumps are kind of a new thing that aren't quite ready for prime time yet. Since you have gas in your home anyway for your furnace, you probably also use it for your hot water heater, dryer and kitchen. It is nice that during a power failure the hot water still works as normal and you can manually light the stove.

Trying to think about how the accident would happen, with a conventional hose you'd think you'd realize immediately that you turned the gas on on even if you couldn't see that it wasn't hooked up behind the dryer. I'm guessing it was one of those "safety" hoses, that limit the amount of gas that can pass to what an appliance actually uses instead of the full pressure and volume of the gas line. But this just means that in the event of a ruptured hose you have a few hours instead of a few minutes to notice and turn off the gas.

It was national news when a school up here was destroyed in a gas explosion when some workers tried to replace a gas meter without shutting of the gas from the street, and that was the school I went to.