Major Gas Explosion and Fire at a Plaza in Penn Hills Pa. Brings criticism of Gas company for not shutting down entire gas main to help put fire out . But I understand the gas company's concern it could make situation even worse

Penn Hills is no stranger to major fires  over it many decades as a township in Allegheny County

and controversy about how fires where handled often come up from the Arm Chair Quarterbacks.
 But this time I am with the Peoples Gas Company when they would not shut down the Street Main

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2019/07/29/firefighters-and-peoples-gas-have-conflicting-stories-about-why-the-gas-took-so-long-to-get-shut-off/

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2019/07/28/gas-line-fire-penn-hills/

Photo Credit KDKA TV 2

 They where having difficulty locating  the 3rd and final shutoff going into the plaza and  had to excavate to find it.

delaying putting out the fire for several hours.

So why not just shut off the natural gas  main  line going into the area ?

This would be a very bad move to make . Why?

The problem is after line is shut off then gas is turned back on it needs to be properly bleed of any air that possibly accumulated . But the bigger danger is the 100 or more properties that may or may not have always on Standing Pilot Lights

That are on Stoves , Hot Water Tanks and Furnaces .

Also we have a High Pressure distribution system compared to low pressure system more common in newer areas.  Which brings many more dangers if not slowly and properly shut down and this would have taken  much  longer then it took to find and finally shut down 3rd line. A very stringent protocol must be followed.
I was doing  repair work on Oil heating equipment for a week  at a new gas pressurization station in Preston County WV  for one of my customers who does hot oil pipe cleaning of newly installed gas lines and saw all the precautions and steps taken when they where cutting in new lines and its intense to say the least.
I had to sit thru a  3 hr safety class as well to even get on the site and it covered all the precautions and showed many examples of when things go bad  with natural gas . you don't just shut down a main.

Plus each and every home and business has to be visited by a gas company repairmen to make sure there properly lighted and gas is not building up in the structure and another explosion even worse than the plaza fire happening .

Plus what about the homes and business where no one is there to let the repairmen in. The gas company has no choice but to shut off meter to structure and owner of structure then has to call have lines inspected to get gas back on and pilot lights lite. 

Its a scenario and a liability the gas companies avoid at all costs .

Having years of experience working on various Natural Gas Equipment and Appliances as I do HVAC trouble shooting   I know the dangers involved in shutting gas lines down improperly . 

So what can be done to avoid this situation in future?  Because it happens  all too often when a gas line is damaged by car accident hitting a house or a construction accident striking a line .

Make the valves in the ground  more visible with paint markings on street and caps well painted with reflective paint . Make sure they are not blocked and have detailed maps for fire company's where every gas main shut off is located inside commercial buildings  and  where street shut offs are located which gas company should already know. 

This will take time and effort and ongoing work to insure  maps and markings stays current  but in long run its worth it.

In the mean time excellent Job by all depts involved keeping the citizens safe. 

That was firefighting excellence being out there over 11 hours keeping the scene under control