Open gas valve caused explosion that injured 22 people, state finds

PLANTATION – A massive explosion that leveled a Plantation building and damaged many others last month, hurting 22 people, was caused by a gas valve that was turned on that morning, a state report says.

The valve at the building formerly occupied by Pizzafire, a tenant that left the property in December, was turned on shortly after 7 a.m. July 6 — more than four hours before the blast, according to the report released Friday.

The gas entered the building and the explosion was caused by “an open natural gas valve,” the report said. The ignition source was likely electrical from an airconditioning system that was being used in the empty business.

From the beginning, Plantation fire experts said gas had been leaking because they found broken gas lines. Friday’s report could officially point to a gas leak as being the cause, experts said.

But how that valve got opened remains unknown — and under investigation.

“The source of that open valve is undetermined to date,” said Devin Galetta, the deputy communications director for the Florida Department of Financial

Services, which oversees the State Fire Marshal’s Office, which took over the investigation from the Plantation Fire Department.

On July 6, the explosion leveled a building at the Market on University at 1025 S. University Drive. The report released Friday, at the request of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, said 22 people were injured and sent to area hospitals, two of them severely.

The investigation has involved numerous agencies such as Plantation police and fire departments, the Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco and Firearms, Bureau of Insurance Fraud, and Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosion Investigations.

When it was over, investigators documented the site with photos and drone aerials.

Twenty-three possible pieces of evidence were taken from the blast site, and nine sections of natural gas pipe were impounded.

Dashcam video from a minivan confirmed the explosion epicenter at 11:28 a.m. was at the former Pizzafire site.

They used blast patterns, and the warping, bending and bowing of what was left to determine the ignition area, according to the report.

“We want to stress again that this is an ongoing investigation and evidence is still being examined, reviewed, and processed, and a final determination has not been made,” Galetta said in an email Friday.

“The source of that open valve is undetermined to date.” — Devin Galetta, Florida Department of Financial Services