A pair of workers were killed in a steam pipe explosion accident on Friday the 13th, 2020. The steam pipe explosion occurred at a Veterans Affairs Hospital located in West Haven, Connecticut. The two fatally injured men work repairing a steam pipe located in a maintenance building on the grounds of the Vets medical center.
The workers were called to the small building to repair a leak in a steam pipe. Once the men had finished repair work on the apparatus, the steam pipe was refilled. During the refilling process, and directly after 8:00 a.m. while the men were still in the building, the steam pipe exploded.
The names of the workers killed in the Veterans Hospital explosion have not been released to the press or public, pending notification of their next of kin. Some information is known about the deceased workers, however.
One of the killed workers was employed by a contractor. He worked for Mulvaney Mechanical, a firm headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut.
The second man was an employee of the Veterans Affairs Hospital. He was a Navy veteran, according to hospital administrators.
In addition to the pair of workers who were killed in the Veterans Hospital steam pipe explosion, three other individuals were injured. The injuries sustained by these other people were not considered life-threatening. They are all thought to have been released from the hospital as of Monday morning, November 16, 2020.
The building in which the explosion occurred was used for facility activities that include general labor, carpentry, and plumbing. The extent of damage to the building itself has not been detailed by hospital officials or investigators.
The cause of the steam pipe explosion has not been determined. With that said, the Connecticut Veterans Hospital blast is being investigated by the West Haven Police Department, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA, as well as the Veterans Affairs Department. Officials have yet to release a definitive timeframe in which they will wrap up the investigation about the Veterans Hospital steam pipe explosion. They do indicate that they hope to be able to report findings from their investigation during the coming month.
Steam heating systems remain in fairly wide use in public facilities like veterans hospitals. Many of these steam heat systems have aged infrastructures. Indeed, some of these systems have elements (including pipes) that are close to and even over 100 years old. Evidence suggests that rather than replace worn steam heat elements in public buildings (as well as in other commercial structures where they exist), a piecemeal effort at repairing worn pipe and other elements is the common course of action. This may have been what was occurring at the Connecticut Veterans Hospital when the steam pipe explosion occurred.
Despite being largely replaced by other forms of heating, steam heat continues to be used in commercial, industrial, and residential properties at this juncture in the 21st century. As a consequence, steam heat blasts and steam pipe explosions do occur from time to time. One of the more recent steam heat explosions involved an industrial boiler at the Loy-Lang Box Company in St. Louis. Four people were killed and three people were injured in the Loy-Lang Box Company explosion.
If you’ve been injured in an incident like the Connecticut steam pipe explosion, or if you’ve lost a loved one in this type of accident, you need to be proactive in protecting your important legal rights. A Doan Law Firm explosion accident lawyer stands ready to fight for your crucial legal interests. You can reach our firm any time of the day or night by calling our explosions accident lawyer hotline at (800) 349-0000. We are available to you seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, including all major holidays.
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