VIC:Explosion blows water heater 400m

AAP General News (Australia)
04-05-2011
VIC:Explosion blows water heater 400m

BALLARAT, April 5 AAP - A faulty hot water heater became a flying projectile when an
explosion blew it 400 metres onto a neighbour's back porch a couple of streets away.

The 200-litre drum landed on the porch of a home while the explosion destroyed a section
of a factory in Ballarat, in regional Victoria.

Firefighters say it was sheer luck no-one was injured in the explosion at 5.30am (AEST)
on Tuesday.

"Luckily the explosion happened when no-one was in the factory; the back of the building
is pretty well destroyed," Country Fire Authority operations officer Bernie Fradd said.

"It landed right on the porch but if it went through a window or hit someone's roof
it could have been a disaster."

The hot water heater was in the roof of a factory in an industrial suburb of Ballarat.

Firefighters believed the thermostat in the service failed which meant the water was
heated continuously until it exploded.

AAP jcr/gfr/nb

KEYWORD: HEATER

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