Gas explosions are very conspicuous and have great media coverage, but they are very rare considering the large number of gas installations in Western countries.
What happened a few days ago in Madrid, a gas explosion that caused the death of several people and destroyed several floors of a building was due, being a piped gas installation, to a significant gas leak that formed a pocket that reached a concentration to explode at a given time when some phenomenon occurs that caused the explosion of it. What is striking is that due to the smell, the gas leakage had not been detected before and a large pocket was formed. Also striking is the several hours it took for the firefighters to cut off the gas supply in the area in the moments after the explosion.
It was clear that they were not butane cylinders, since they do not produce such damage unless several are deliberately concentrated as has happened with suicide attempts that have sometimes caused several deaths.
Good maintenance of the facilities is essential. The regulation of once every 5 years in the case of gas cylinders and every 2 years in gas boilers, seems insufficient to us and maintenance contracts should be made for annual reviews, since it is necessary to review elements that deteriorate over time such as valves , regulators, flexible connections …
These maintenance contracts should be signed with companies of recognized solvency and experience that have specialized personnel.