[buccaneer81]

1944, 20 October. The East Ohio Natural Gas Company experienced a failure of an LNG tank in Cleveland, Ohio.[19] 128 people perished in the explosion and fire. The tank did not have a dike retaining wall, and it was made during World War II, when metal rationing was very strict. The steel of the tank was made with an extremely low amount of nickel, which meant the tank was brittle when exposed to the extreme cold of LNG. The tank ruptured, spilling LNG into the city sewer system. The LNG vaporized and turned into gas, which exploded and burned.

[thackney]

I have read the safety reviews of that event.

Sewer gas was also a major factor in the ignition.

Not a lot of sewers on the water.

[thackney]

Also the gas in too rich a mixture and still very cold, was able to accumulate in sewers, where it then was more contained until it further mixed to an ignitable mixture along with the other gases.

[thackney]

Found one of the reviews of the incident from the Nation Fire Protection Agency.

- No evidence of gas-air explosion
- Many homes exploded from gas entering from sewers

http://www.southerngas.org/EVENTS/documents/LNGCleveland-Lemoff.pdf