McDonald, PA — There was a serious explosion at a local car wash in McDonald last Sunday, which is west of Pittsburgh. Authorities confirmed that there was a gas leak that may have caused an explosion at the Duck’s Car Wash on Ohara Street last Sunday, December 21.
Injured in the explosion was a customer and the owner of Ducky’s Car Wash, neither of whom were named.
It looks like the explosion happened around 9:45 a.m., but the cause is yet to be determined. The news speculated that it could have come from the boiler room, but that hasn’t been confirmed yet. Both a male customer washing his SUV and the owner of the car wash suffered burn injuries to their hands and faces.
The accident is still being investigated and it apparently destroyed two bays at Ducky’s Car Wash, along with the mechanical room of the business.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary:
I don’t know if you’ve ever been inside of a car wash’s operating room, but there are tubes and soap EVERYWHERE — and the whole place is usually dripping wet. If there was a gas leak here, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it was due to backed up tube or drainage pipe that allowed the wrong chemicals to mix together and create a strong gas.
However, I think the real concern is whether this will happen again in the future. Pennsylvania has laws to protect business owners and employers from lawsuits against employees (which I strongly disagree with), but injured customers do have rights against establishments that cause them injury, especially if it’s due to negligence. Again, I don’t want to make it sound like I know what really happened – because I don’t – but I would be very curious to see what an in-depth investigation of that car wash would turn up, because I’m betting there are more than just a few things out of whack with the local OSHA code.
— Grossman Law Offices
