Fire In The Valley

WGBH

On Sept. 13, 2018, at 4:04 p.m., an alarm sounded at a natural gas monitoring center in Columbus, Ohio. High-pressured natural gas had just been released into a low-pressure gas line in Massachusetts’ Merrimack Valley. Soon, buildings in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover would explode and catch fire. Thousands of people would be ordered to flee their homes and seek safety on the streets. GBH Reporters were there to collect their stories and get answers to the questions on everyone’s mind: How did this happen? And, could it happen again?

2019 WGBH Educational Foundation

2hr 6min

Thumbnail for "Part 1: The First Minutes of a Disaster".

The 911 calls begin at a little past four in the afternoon. Soon, the explosions start, and the region is in chaos.

September 6, 201921min 14sec30.59 MB

Thumbnail for "Part 4: Making the Valley Whole Again".

The explosions are over, the fires are out, but people’s lives in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover remain in chaos as they anxiously wait for some sense of normalcy.

September 13, 201940min 58sec49.16 MB

Thumbnail for "Part 3-The Sun Rises After A Disaster".

After fleeing their homes and spending the night in their cars and makeshift emergency shelters, residents face the first morning after gas fires and explosions threw the region into chaos.

September 11, 201930min 32sec36.66 MB

Thumbnail for "Part 2: ‘I Had Never Gone Toward Explosions Before’".

Within minutes of the first 9-1-1 calls, three WGBH News reporters head toward the explosions and fires in the Merrimack Valley.

September 9, 201932min 17sec38.76 MB

Thumbnail for "Coming Soon:WGBH News Presents: Fire In The Valley".

On the one-year anniversary of the largest natural gas incident in state history, WGBH News draws on the sounds, voices and stories that WGBH reporters gathered during the night of the disaster and the days, weeks and months that followed.

August 30, 20191min 4sec1.55 MB

Part 1: The First Minutes of a Disaster

September 6, 201921min 14sec

Within moments of the first alarms, homes and businesses in Massachusetts’ Merrimack Valley are aflame. Hundreds of people call 9-1-1, as thousands of residents in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover run from their homes, seeking safety in the streets. By the time the gas is shut off, 131 buildings are damaged or destroyed, one person is dead, and nearly two dozen are transported to hospitals.