Maryland Town Shaken by Gas Main Blast during Ernesto Repair

By Mary Mitchell

Published on September 06, 2006

The blast occurred the night of Sept. 5 on Old Ocean City Boulevard, which had been closed since Ernesto struck the Maryland/Delaware region on Sept. 1. Three workers from a private utility company were digging in the area to replace the pole.

Eastern Shore Gas had to close their gas lines to stop the fire, which took two hours to get under control. More than 60 area firefighters, police, public works personnel, and state highway workers responded to the blast. The utility pole, a gas main, and two utility trucks caught fire, and although workers were inside the two trucks when the blast occurred, there were no injuries. The utility pole was burned halfway through, and emergency personnel were concerned that the pole might fall onto the crowd of about 50 onlookers who gathered nearby after the blast.

The explosion knocked out a Comcast line, shutting down Internet and cable TV service for hundreds of addresses in Berlin, Ocean City, and nearby Fenwick Island in Delaware. Eastern Shore Gas estimated that their local customers would be without gas service for a day while the gas main was repaired.

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