EXPLOSION IN SPRINGFIELD: Gas leak leads to major explosion in Downtown Springfield

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By Joel McAuliffe

UPDATE: Reports are that no injuries sustained as a result of the blast are life threatening.

A gas explosion has rocked downtown Springfield. Just before 5:30 p.m. tonight at site on Worthington Street an explosion of a natural gas leak erupted over the area.

Colombia gas workers arrived earlier in the day to a reported gas leak, when the arrived on the scene around 4:20 p.m., the smell of natural gas was pungent.

According to the police and fire dispatch radio all police and firefighters were accounted for but that report is not confirmed.  The source of the gas leak is not yet known.

Police have reported two buildings have been lost. The explosion was in every surrounding city and as far as Granby, Massachusetts.

A former Senior Customer Service Representative for Colombia gas told me there is great cause for concern outside of the wellbeing for those who were in the area.

Today was a holiday for Columbia gas employees, meaning less experienced technicians were most likely working the site saying “If anyone gets hurt we need to seriously look at how we provide support during holidays, weekends and nights.”

The source was also said that if the leak was as strong as reported a much more severe situation could ensue.

“If there is an outside leak the severity of the leak is much worse than inside, that means the scale of the leak could be bigger than ever thought”

Several injures have been reported it is not yet know the condition of those injuries or if there are any fatalities.

If it is found that the leak is from a result of a line that was not maintained, and the fault lies with the gas company, the source said, “A Gag order will be instituted for all employees to keep quiet and not release any information”

Stay tuned to local media as this story develops.