I remember this day very well.  It was two years ago already passed since I was sitting in my kitchen and I saw on the news that many homes in the Merrimack Valley area were exploding due to the excessive pressure in the natural gas lines.  Columbia Gas of Massachusetts owned those gas lines, according to Wikipedia.  

 

One person was killed due to the explosions, Leonel Rondon who was only 18 years old when he was sitting in a car in Lawrence when all of this happened.  Part of a house collapsed due to an explosion and fell on top of the car.  Leonel did not survive, according to a report from WCVB.

Over the weekend, the Lawrence Fire Department was presented the Leonel Rondon Memorial Award and $5,000 for fire and explosion prevention.

The report cites Leonel's sister, Lucianny Rondon as saying:

 

Every day is a challenge. Every day is difficult because we cannot hear his voice, his jokes, his laughter.....  Knowing he's not going to come home -- it's difficult.

OH!  My heart goes out to her and his family.

There were 25 other people who were injured in the explosions and about 100 homes were damaged or destroyed in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover.

I remember being quite relieved when Columbia Gas did the right thing and accepted responsibility for the disaster.  This is from their twitter account: 

Today marks two years since the tragedy in the Merrimack Valley, and on this solemn day, our hearts go out to the family of Leonel Rondon and all those who were injured, suffered or had their lives disrupted. We carry the weight of these losses with us today and every day.

 

NEVER FORGET: Images from 9/11 and the days after

 

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