Exploding water heater in Phoenix

Brian_A.MacNeish · August 14, 2008, 6:20pm

cvowell:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/08/14/20080814kpnx-waterheater.html

Phoenix firefighters say a hot water heater exploded and shot through the roof of a home, near 38th Street and Thunderbird Road.
The explosion apparently sent the water heater shooting though the roof, landing some 200 yards away.
No one was injured in the explosion, but several nearby houses were evacuated. OAS_AD(‘ArticleFlex_1’)
The 5:40 a.m. blast caused serious damage to the house, but there were no injures.
The explosion occurred inside the garage of a house where one man was staying, Phoenix Fire Captain Victor Rangel said.
The explosion damaged a neighbor’s wall and broke glass across the street, in addition to causing catastrophic damage to the home where the explosion occurred, Rangel said.
Phoenix Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were on the scene as investigators worked to find what caused the explosion. There was no fire, Rangel said.

That would have been fun to watch. (from across the street)

Too bad they didn’t have a close-up picture of the roof that the heater exited through. I saw one in Energy Design Update or JLC about 10-12 years ago…quite shocking…water tank missile!