Report: Worker monitoring gas levels ordered evacuation just before Conn. plant explosion

Report: Warning issued just before Conn. explosion

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — A worker monitoring natural gas levels at a Connecticut power plant reportedly called for an evacuation moments before an explosion that killed five workers.

The Hartford Courant, citing witnesses and investigators it did not identify, said the message, radioed throughout the Kleen Energy plant, warned workers that gas meter readings had spiked.

The brother of one of the workers killed in the Feb. 7 blast told The Associated Press last week that workers evacuated the building after they smelled gas. Middletown South District Deputy Fire Chief Marc Fongemie said Thursday he did not know if such an order was issued.

The newspaper reported Wednesday that investigators have recovered the two gas meters used at the time of the explosion, which occurred while workers were purging gas lines at the plant, which was under construction.