39+ houses catch fire as overpressurized gas lines cause explosions across Massachusetts -- Unclear if due to operator error or a computer hack

submitted by magnora7 from wcvb.com

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[–]magnora7[S] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (9 children)

Seriously how is this not nationwide news? 3 cities just had dozens of houses literally explode in flame

[–]Mnemonic 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

Because "this article is not available in your area"

Oh and it's kinda nationwide now?:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nearly-40-fires-explosions-erupt-massachusetts-n909446

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/09/13/massachusetts-suspected-gas-explosions-damage-or-destroy-at-least-20-homes-officials-say.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/us/lawrence-massachusetts-explosion-gas-fire.html

[–]magnora7[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Good. Thanks for the links.

They're saying 70 houses on fire now, across 3 cities. Complete gridlock on streets. Power shut off to 130k people for fear of igniting explosions.

This seems pretty serious.

Also raytheon employs 10k people in that area. Probably not related though. Some are saying this might be a way for someone to destroy evidence...

I saw someone else say that it was the gas company's fault, that they re-routed gas from a high pressure line to a low-pressure one and caused all these explosions. Doesn't really make sense that it'd affect 3 towns though.

[–]magnora7[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

What's weird is the articles do not appear on any of the front pages of those 3 sites. You'd think this would be headline news, but it's literally not mentioned.

Not a single frontpage mention is fucking weird for such a huge disaster.

[–]Mnemonic 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Hmm, well english (GB) news is reporting it, reuters, dailymail, mail online...

Maybe because there's only one dead?

Edit: I wouldn't be surprised if the frontpage consisted of 'highly clicked content' as to maximize the clicks.

[–]magnora7[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Look at the other frontpage stories on American news though, they're garbage, but they bury this explosion story?

[–]Mnemonic 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I'm my view i see it on cbs frontpage, CNN, reuters, nbc(under top videos on frontpage, somewhere a bit more down) and usatoday.

Not on the guardian though.

Maybe trackers googleboozled you? cookies facebooked you?

[–]magnora7[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Ah i see some of them now. Maybe I was just being impatient

[–]Mnemonic 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Could also be some 'smart' algorithm: remove read articles from frontpage for more news addiction!

[–]i_cansmellthat 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Looks like the hurricane is getting all the press. We used to eye roll category 1 or 2 hurricanes, didn't we? Not making light of the storm surge, it's a big deal but this has gotten a lot of hype.

Whether the explosion was caused by hacking or user error, wouldn't the public usually be clamoring for accountability? Columbia Gas is the provider, and they are a subsidiary of NiSource, which is one of the largest utility providers in the nation with 3.5 million gas customers, according to wikipedia. Maybe news providers don't want to call them out too loudly?

[–]Mle 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Also perhaps noteworthy that the area hit by these explosions is pretty poverty-stricken. Lawrence in particular is densely populated (for Massachusetts) and has a large immigrant population, the majority being non-white. Whether that means anything, I don’t know. But perhaps another example of america’s poorest towns getting shafted as far as public safety and infrastructure goes.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Get ready for news about how the Russians hacked the grid.
/S

[–]FormosaOolong 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

When it was really probably "smart" meters exploding to provide access for some corporate land grab :(