A business exploded after an 89-year-old pipe in the street failed, highlighting need for natural gas detectors, NTSB says

By Aaron Cooper, CNN

(CNN) — A joint welded between two huge gas pipes nearly 90 years ago and buried under a street failed and caused a Kansas auto parts store to explode in flames, the National Transportation Safety Board determined in a report released Tuesday. The incident has prompted the agency to highlight recommendations that every state require natural gas detectors in buildings that could be impacted by a gas leak.

The natural gas odor outside Steffens Auto Parts store on Main Street in Hutchinson, Kansas prompted a 911 call on the morning of February 22, 2025.

When the fire department arrived they smelled gas and could see signs of gas leaking, including a “mirage” effect in the air and hissing coming from the ground.

“I walk across Main and then I hear it and I see it, and it’s blowing holes in the snow on both sides,” a fire department captain told the NTSB.

After firefighters went into the building their gas monitors alerted immediately and the lone occupant of the building was subsequently evacuated, the NTSB said.

As they were walking away, part of the building collapsed and the explosion sent flames shooting out of the windows, video from a nearby fire department vehicle shows.

“As a fire chief, it is probably one of my worst nightmares. We almost lost six firefighters,” Hutchinson Fire Chief Steven Beer said during a briefing at the time. “The guys got out of the building about 20 seconds before the building exploded.”

Nearly five hours later, gas coming from the street and storm drains was still burning, the NTSB said. The fires were not entirely put out until nearly 11 hours after the explosion.

A joint welded in 1926 between two 10-inch-wide pipes buried under the street failed, sending gas through the ground and into the building, investigators said. The pipe installation was done before modern welding standards and the molten metal didn’t make its way into the space between the two pipes, eventually leading to the failure.

The explosion led the NTSB to highlight their outstanding recommendations to all 50 states to require the installation of natural gas alarms.

For nearly 50 years the agency has recommended wider use of the detectors. The NTSB can recommend changes, but it’s up to lawmakers and regulators to take action to require they are implemented.

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