Firestone House Explosion Caused By Leak From Pipeline

The explosion that ripped through a home in Firestone on April 11 and killed Mark Martinez and Joey Irwin as they worked on a water heater in the basement was caused by an unrefined odorless gas. They never knew what was coming.

That was the conclusion of an investigation led by the Frederick-Firestone Protection District.

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The gas entered the house through a French Drain and Sump Pit because of a cut, abandoned gas flow line attached to an oil and gas well in the vicinity that, while abandoned, had not been disconnected from the wellhead and capped.

"Those inside the home would not have smelled it," Fire Chief Ted Poszywak said.

Because of that, soon after the cause was released, Governor John Hickenlooper ordered that all oil and gas lines within 1,000 feet of occupied buildings to be inspected.

The well is owned by Anadarko Petroleum - the state's largest producer - and is just 178 feet from the home.

After the explosion, the company announced that they were shutting down 3,000 of their older wells in the state until they could be inspected again.

The fire district said that the police department will now conduct an official death investigation and that what they find will be turned over to the Weld County District Attorney's Office.

Photo via Frederick-Firestone Fire Protection District.