A natural gas explosion destroyed a strip club in busy downtown Springfield, Mass., on Friday night, injuring at least eight people and damaging nearby businesses, according to early news reports.
The Springfield Republican reports that the Scores Gentleman's Club was flattened following a reported gas leak. WWPL-TV says that one police officer and two Columbia Gas of Massachusetts workers were among the injured, and that none of the injuries are life threatening.
Police said the blast happened about 5:25 p.m. ET as gas workers looked for a leak under the road, Reuters reports. One dancer told the Republican that gas workers had come to Scores during the week after employees reported smelling gas, but they found nothing.
The club had not yet opened for the night, WWPL says, although its posted hours are noon until 2 a.m.
The club, on Worthington Street, "is like a huge cavity in the road," the Republican writes. A day-care center next door and a nearby five-story building were heavily damaged. Windows were blown out 1½ blocks away, and glass littered a several-block radius.
A Scores dancer named Debbie said she was on stage when the "house mom" came up and told everyone to evacuate. She told the paper she saw smoke when she went upstairs to get her clothes, and the manager ordered everyone to get out, "naked or not."
Another dancer said they got 20 minutes' notice to leave.
"I went across the street to the Mardi Gras Champagne Room, where we were having a drink, and the building where I work blew up," 21-year-old Megan Labombard said.
The downtown was crowded with holiday revelers. Between 30 and 40 people were in Theodore's, about two blocks from Scores.
"It rocked us so hard the windows smashed. It felt like an earthquake or a large explosion," waitress Stephanie Simmons told the Republican. "There was pretty much chaos."
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last commentDamn !! Now what are the guys going to do for fun there ??
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You don't fuck around with nat gas.
Of all the weird and wonderful hydrocarbons that I have encountered during my career there is nothing more explosive or volatile than nat gas and its various components. It can even kill you without exploding. Sour gas (nat gas laced with H2S) is lethal.
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Chances are the club decided to open late because business in the afternoon following thanksgiving would have been terrible. On the plus side this may have saved a lot of lives. On the negative side it might have allowed the gas to build up. Gas needs to mix with air to reach a particular concentration range before it will explode. That takes a volume of closed space.
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Read some more and learned that the club was open, and that the manager came through and told everybody to leave immediately. No doubt saved a lot of lives with that.
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damn that sucks. ty to the manager lots of people got out safely
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Bummer :-(
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Glad everyone was able to get out. But did you guys notice in the story that it said there was a day care center next door? Is there anyone who can confirm this? I didn't think a SC would be that close to a day care center. Zoning laws and everything.
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rh48hr - YMCA located at 275 Chestnut St is probably what you are looking for.
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Don't know the laws but it is Mass. perhaps bit more liberal on whats allowed.
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"One dancer told the Republican that gas workers had come to Scores during the week after employees reported smelling gas, but they found nothing."
I'll bet they found the lap dance room & ATM's quick enough, though.
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Sucks for all the people who enjoyed the place and the employees / dancers.
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Strip... club's... been... blown... to pieces!
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