March 4, 2024
A house exploded in a new construction subdivision. No one was around. It was early evening and the work crew had gone for the day. The fire department was called but the house could not be saved.
A few days later a cause and origin specialist began working with the fire chief to try to determine the cause. The explosion seemed to have originated in the basement near the furnace.
A rental store received a letter from an attorney for the insurance company for the builder. They alleged a propane tank provided by the rental store was the cause of the explosion. They alleged that the propane tank was not connected properly, propane flowed into the basement and when the furnace kicked on, the explosion occurred.
The insurance company for the rental store hired a field adjuster to investigate. As part of the field adjuster’s investigation, he received several videos, and one showed what appeared to be a person reaching out to touch the top of the propane tank as though to connect the tank. The attorney for the builder alleged that after refilling the tank, the employee did not reconnect it properly.
The owner of the rental store agreed that they did deliver a propane tank to the job site. However, that is where the agreement ended. It was the practice of the rental store not to refill the propane tanks but to replace them. Also, the tanks were dropped off and not connected by rental store employees.
The builder was a longtime customer of the rental store. On this particular job, the rental store had already swapped out several propane tanks and the process was the same each time. The tank was put outside of the house in the same place and left disconnected each time. The rental store supplied the tank and hose and the customer completed the hookup.
The dwelling was deemed a total loss due to walls being blown out and off the foundation, doors blown out, with fire, soot and debris through every room.
The video provided did not support the builder’s insurance company’s position that the rental store employees turned on the gas on the tank as claimed. The video also did not disprove that the rental store employee did not turn on the gas. The video was simply not clear enough to prove anything.
This much was clear — during construction, the propane tank began leaking which caused a buildup of propane in the basement which led to the explosion of the home. The attorney alleged that the fault lies solely on the rental store employee for failure to turn the propane tank to ‘off.’
The attorney for the builder went on to allege that a pressure test was not done and if it was, it would have been noted that the propane was flowing freely into the house, ultimately leading to the explosion when the furnace turned on.
An investigation was also opened into negligence against the plumber, for failing to cap off the supply hose/regulator when it was disconnected from the furnace. The rental store employees never entered the structure, leaving the propane tank outside at the pre-determined location.
The attorney for the builder filed suit against the rental store and the plumbing company. Because much of the home was destroyed and there wasn’t any clear-cut evidence either way, the suit was settled at mediation prior to going to trial for a total of $125,000. The original demand exceeded $200,000. The portion of the settlement that fell to the rental store’s insurance company was less than half of the settlement.
Mary Ann Gormly is a loss analyst for ARA Insurance, Overland Park, Kan. For more information, call 800-821-6580 or visit ARAinsure.com.
