Thermal Failure of a Polyethylene/Polyacetal Gas Distribution Service Tee

On March 24, 2023, a natural gas–fueled explosion and fire occurred at a candy production facility in West Reading, Pennsylvania. The explosion destroyed the building and caused significant structural damage to the adjacent building and other surrounding structures. Seven people were killed, 11 people were injured, 3 families were displaced from a neighboring apartment building, and many more people were evacuated from the area. The source of the gas was a polyethylene/polyacetal service tee, part of a gas piping system, that had entered into service in 1982. A new service tee and service line were installed in 2021. The original service line was capped and the original service tee was left attached to the system under gas pressure. The presentation will describe the failure modes of the polyethylene and polyacetal components and will discuss the environmental conditions around the service tee that accelerated the time to failure and increased the severity of the failure.