Fairfax Fires Di Gas Pressure Dips Sharply

Methane gas flames spouting from the earth of the Fairfax District burned lower--and then winked out--Tuesday when a vent was opened nearby, and authorities said this could be a sign of better things to come.

Pressure of the underground gas that exploded Sunday, injuring 22 people, demolishing a discount clothing store and forcing evacuation of four square blocks, appeared to be dropping sharply Los Angeles Deputy Fire Chief Don Anthony explained.

If it continues to do this, he said, many businesses in the area could safely reopen by noon today: “It all depends on how things go from now on.”

Anthony’s optimism--shared by other experts called in to deal with the emergency--was almost the first good news since Sunday’s initial blast:

- Six of the people injured in that blast remained hospitalized Tuesday--two of them still in critical condition--and one new, though minor, injury was reported when an engineer was struck in the eye by drilling mud while working on the vent well.

Blast Danger Remains

- The possibility of new explosions remained an ever-present concern as Fire Department crews monitored gas concentrations elsewhere in the area.

- More than 400 elementary school students were still being bused out of the area.

- And businesses in the danger area remained closed, with losses of sales estimated at $500,000 a day.

“I’m losing $1,000 in trade every morning I stay closed,” said Jack Bernstein, who operates a stall in the Farmers Market, across the street from the blast site. “If I can’t get back in business soon, I might as well quit. I really don’t know what to do. . . .”

One possible answer came from City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie, who said the local emergency proclaimed Monday by Mayor Tom Bradley would be the first step toward a federal disaster proclamation--which would enable people like Bernstein to obtain low-cost Small Business Administration loans.

A few merchants were given two-hour passes--and Fire Department escorts--to re-enter the danger area Tuesday to clean up their premises and retrieve business records. “I left food all over the place--I have to go clean it up,” said Daniel Tanney, who operated a small food sale outlet.

Merchant Not Interested

But Bill Stern, who operates a business supply firm across the street from the blast site, decided he wasn’t interested. His business is in the K Mart building, where fire officials said gas readings rose to 100% at one point Tuesday morning.

“I thought I wanted to go in . . . but not any more,” Stern said. “I’ll wait until they say it’s safe.”

Chief Anthony said that might be sooner than anybody expected.

Drilling of the 12-inch-wide hole--first of five proposed vent-and-flare wells in the parking lot of the Ross Dress for Less store, which lost its roof, walls and windows in the original explosion--began just before 10 p.m. Monday and continued to a depth of more than 80 feet Tuesday.

At about 45 feet, Anthony said, there was a sudden surge of pressure as the well reached a pocket of gas immersed in sand and oil. The surge threw a plug of mud--used to reduce friction in the drilling process--into the eyes of engineer Ed Santiago of the state Division of Gas and Oil, who was released in good condition after emergency treatment.

The sudden release of pressure also produced a response from the flames that have been spouting from cracks in the earth around the store ever since Sunday.

Half of Original Size

“They dropped to less than half their original height,” he said.

The fires finally went out during the afternoon, and by 5 p.m. methane readings in the vicinity of the new well were effectively zero, according to a Fire Department spokesman.

They began to rise again during the night hours, however, forcing unburnt vapor into the air through the earth fissures, and lighting of the flare on the 12-foot tower erected atop the vent well was repeatedly postponed.

Fire officials said this was partially in order to permit hardening of cement around the well casing--and partly because the unburnt gas seeping again from the fissures posed a new hazard.

“We want just one fire--on top of the flare stack,” said mining engineer James Brundt, a consultant called in by the Fire Department, “not fifty fires coming out of the ground again.”

Nonetheless, the general spirit remained one of optimism.

Richard Manuel of the Division of Gas and Oil and Dr. Ronald Lofy, an engineer called in for consultation, agreed with Anthony that the decline in pressure could mean the pocket of underground gas is smaller than originally believed. They also agreed that the other four vents might not have to be drilled after all.

“Obviously,” Lofy said, “there are different ways of doing this, but for the time being we have decided to use the single-hole approach.”

“We’ll have a better feel for it after we’ve flared (burned off the gas) for 6 to 20 hours,” he added. Anthony speculated that businesses--perhaps including the landmark Farmers Market across the street--might be able to reopen by noon today, and Lofy agreed that this might, indeed be possible.

“But let’s not raise hopes before we are sure,” he cautioned.

City Councilman John Ferraro, whose 4th Council District includes the blast area, raised questions about handling of gas danger reports in the vicinity, saying he had evidence that explosive levels of methane had been detected weeks before the disaster, but went unreported.