Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

SOMERSET, Mass. -- The police today released a 73-minute audio recording of the 911 calls before and after a natural gas explosion in a house here last week in which a woman died.

The recording makes it clear that the the explosion was preceded by a significant gas leak on New York Avenue that could be seen, heard and smelled by neighbors. A gas company worker told the police, just before the blast, that "we have gas blowing up right through the asphault."

The explosion at the nearby 93 New York Ave. home occurred Feb. 19 at about 6:17 p.m., killing Rosemarie Rebello, 62, and her dog.

The tape, which is difficult to understand at times because of several voices overlapping each other, starts with several callers to 911 notifying officials of a strong smell of gas in the area of New York Avenue.

The first call came in about about 5:06 p.m., according to the tape. A woman who lived on New York Avenue reported that her husband had just arrived home and when he opened his car door, he told her the air was thick with the small of gas.

"As soon as he got out of the car, it was all he could taste," said the woman, who did not identify herself.

Listen to the first call (MP3 format)

At 5:11 p.m., Somerset fire was dispatched, and a shortly afterwards, a fireman confirmed a gas leak.

Listen to that exchange (MP3 format)

Transcript:

Engine 6: Engine 6 to control.
Dispatcher: Engine 6.
Engine 6: Notify the gas company that this is a confirmed leak. We can hear it hissing through the roadway.

At 6:03 p.m., about 14 minutes before the explosion occurred, a New England Gas Co. worker called the Somerset police to ask for a cruiser to block off part of New York Avenue where the company was attempting to repair a leak.

"We have gas blowing up right through the asphalt," the gas worker told the police dispatcher.

Listen to the call to request a police cruiser (MP3 format)

Transcript:

Dispatcher: Somerset police and gire, recorded line, Sylvia
Gas worker: Hi. This is New England Gas - Paul Camara (phonetic spelling). We have an emergency gas leak and we need to make a repair on New York Ave. in Somerset.
Dispatcher: Yep.
Gas worker: ... (unintelligible) .. detail.
Dispatcher: You want a detail?
Gas worker: Yeah, you know why? I want to shut this road down. We have gas blowing up right through the asphault.
Dispatcher: Okay. Definitely. You want just one cruiser?
Gas worker: There's no traffic, you know what I mean, but just in case someone wants to be stubborn and try to get through our cones...
Dispatcher: Yeah ... My partner wanted to state that it is $10 extra per hour for a cruiser. I don't know if you want that, but I'm assuming you ...
Gas worker: For the visibilty, we'll say we'll take a cruiser.
Dispatcher: Yeah. Okay.

At about 6:17, what sounds like dozens of callers flooded the 911 line to report the explosion. The recording apparently captures several different conversations on different lines occuring at the same time. Adding to the confusion is an automatic time stamp that is inserted every 20 seconds.

Listen to the 911 calls reporting the explosion (MP3 format)

The state fire marshal's office, working with the town's Public Works Department, has not produced a report on the leak that caused natural gas to fill Rebello's home, though it is widely believed the leak originated in a main near the front of her home.

Rebello was buried Wednesday. Her cause of death has not yet been determined. A final report is still to come on her autopsy, which would indicate whether she died from the trauma of the explosion, from the gas fumes that preceded it or from other causes.

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