[Flashman]

Everyone say a prayer for the people of Connecticut, where five people were killed and more than two dozen injured in a tremendous power plant blast in Middletown, only six miles north from where Vinnie has moved his new business in Durham.

Here's the lead from the NYTimes:

"A power plant under construction in central Connecticut exploded with earthquake force that shook homes across much of the state on Sunday as workers purged natural gas lines in preparation for the plant to open this year. At least five people were killed and more than two dozen were injured as a section of the plant collapsed and burned.

"Witnesses said the explosion at the Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown, 15 miles south of Hartford, occurred at 11:17 a.m. in a thundering convulsion of flames and smoke seen for miles around and felt as far away as cities and towns on the shore of Long Island Sound, 30 miles away."

Vinnie, hope all is okay with you, your family and your staff.

[Mariusz]

No worries, Vinnie has been running his company on batteries for year.
 

Mariusz

[Vinnie R.]

Hi Flashman,

Vinnie, hope all is okay with you, your family and your staff.

Thank you for your concern.

I was in my office working at 11:17am and definitely heard the explosion!  Since my HVAC is in the ceiling above my office room, I heard the metal of the new HVAC make a strange and loud vibration (kind of like a rumble of a jet plane taking off), so I went up with a ladder to investigate thinking there was a problem with the HVAC, but it was fine.  I had my radio on and it was only 30 min. to an hour later that I heard about the bad news at the power plant in Middletown, CT. 

No worries, Vinnie has been running his company on batteries for year.

I'm pretty sure that power plant was new and not yet in service.  So I don't think many people lost power, but those who lived really close by had windows broken and stress cracks in the foundations of their homes.  They showed it on the news last night. 

The power plant was supposed to be activated this summer to start supplying electricity.  They were purging the gas lines yesterday and we are still waiting to find out what exactly went wrong.  I imagine the investigation is going to take some time.  It is very dry these days and I wouldn't be surprised if static electricity (not a flame) created the spark that caused a chain reaction. 

My heart goes out to all the victims and their families. 

Vinnie