Cause of Sunday night Columbia sewer ‘explosion’ unknown, but some suspect fireworks
Keriana Gamboa
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A boom that triggered emergency dispatchers to send out a warning about an “underground explosion” in a residential area of Columbia might have been fireworks, a city employee told ABC 17 News on Monday.
” I think maybe a firework, somebody probably threw one into the storm drain, ” City of Columbia stormwater supervisor Derek Altus said when asked what might have triggered the response that closed down part of Worley Street on Sunday.
Ronald Mooney, who lives in the area, said firefighters told him they had seen smoke coming from the sewer shortly after the initial reports.
“Well, I was sitting in my rocking chair watching TV, and I heard an explosion which sounded like an M-80 or cherry bomb or something like that,” Mooney said. “And it frightened me because I wasn’t expecting it.”
Columbia firefighters found no physical evidence to support the theory that fireworks caused the incident, and therefore could not verify that claim.
The Columbia Fire Department responded to reports of smoke and a loud noise coming from a storm drain at the corner of West Worley Street and Pennant Street.
Initial calls to 911 described it as an “underground explosion,” prompting Boone County Joint Communications to send an alert to residents.
The message read, “BCJC Urgent: Worley from Stadium to at least West Blvd is closed due to an underground explosion. Choose alternate route.”
Boone County Joint Communications director Christie Davis said Monday that the responding supervisor decided to send out that message due to the information they received at the time.
However, when crews arrived, they found no visible hazards, no injuries and no damage to nearby homes or infrastructure. It has been described since as a “non-event.”
“‘Nonevent,’ we mean that upon arrival and a thorough investigation, fire crews found no hazards present, no damage to homes or infrastructure, and no injuries. There was nothing active for our crews to mitigate,” CFD spokeswoman Katherine Rodriguez said in a statement.
City crews conducted routine inspections of a manhole and storm drain near the area Monday.