Contributed Photo
Service truck, post-explosion.
A deafening explosion that occurred in a tunnel beneath Gateway Community College and the Knights of Columbus tower was an accident, investigators have concluded.
The explosion took place Wednesday around 10:30 a.m.
A worker from Mulvaney Mechanical had driven a truck into the tunnel to do work on the HVAC system at the college.
He hadn’t started working yet when the explosion occurred. He checked in at the college, then stepped back into the tunnel — and was a mere 15 feet away when his truck exploded, according to Gateway spokesperson Evelyn Gard.
Mulvaney, which is based in Danbury, was also the company working on maintenance at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in West Haven last November when a mechanical explosion killed two workers.
Amie Fanning Photo
NHFD at the scene.
Emergency workers from New Haven’s fire and police departments responded to Wednesday’s explosion, along with the state police, the FBI, and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
The Mulvaney worker declined an offer to be transported to the hospital to be checked out.
In the end, investigators concluded that mechanical failure was responsible for the explosion, Lt. Nicholas Marcucio, who heads the New Haven police department’s hazardous device unit, reported Thursday at the weekly Compstat data-sharing session. He said no evidence was found of “malicious” or criminal intent.
Investigators: how about you check for permits at the NH Building Department? Once an accident, twice...???