Gas blasts destroy homes
A series of gas explosions left at least four people injured and ignited fires in at least 39 homes in three communities north of Boston on Thursday, forcing entire neighborhoods to evacuate as crews scrambled to fight fires and turn off gas and electric lines to prevent further damage.
Massachusetts State Police urged residents with homes serviced by Columbia Gas in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover to evacuate Thursday afternoon, snarling traffic and causing widespread confusion as residents and local officials struggled to understand what was happening.
Lawrence General Hospital said it was treating four victims with injuries related to the fires but did not provide details about their conditions.
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency blamed the fires on gas lines that had become over-pressurized, but officials who responded to the area were still investigating the cause. State officials said Columbia Gas was working to ease pressure on gas lines following the fires.
Columbia had announced earlier Thursday that it would be upgrading gas lines in neighborhoods across the state, including the area where the explosions happened. It was not clear whether work was happening there Thursday, and a spokeswoman did not immediately return calls.
Soon after 7 p.m., officials in Andover said all fires in the town had been extinguished. Around the same time, State Police said electricity was being shut off for all residents in Lawrence, North Andover and Andover, where some were still reporting an odor tied to natural gas.
The three communities house more than 146,000 residents about 26 miles north of Boston, near the New Hampshire border. Lawrence, the largest of them, has a population of about 80,000. quested confidentiality, declined to come forward or press the matter further, and I have honored that decision.”
A Senate Democratic aide and another person familiar with the matter said it referred to an incident that occurred while Kavanaugh was highschool age. The two spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter.
The details of the incident and the identity of the person who provided the information that was turned over to federal authorities were unclear.
The Judiciary Committee, which has finished confirmation hearings for Kavanagh, is scheduled to vote next Thursday on whether to recommend that Kavanaugh’s nomination be confirmed by the full Senate.