JackHammers,
trucks, payloaders and the whine of saws rattled downtown New Bedford to
life this morning as the city started to clean up after three gas
explosions and fires yesterday. Three buildings were leveled and two
more were heavily damaged.
Even as the cleanup continued,
property owners, insurance companies, and city officials were busy
assessing the damage and planning the rebuilding effort.
Fire Chief Manuel Almeida said the
damage "could be in the millions of dollars.' But Ray Covill, of
Humphrey, Covill and Coleman Insurance Agency, Inc., said that estimate
may be on the high side.
"At this time it's too early to
tell," Covill said.
Downtown merchants forced to
evacuate an eight-block area yesterday because of high levels of gas
were returning to their shops today. In many, broken windows were
boarded up, but most had reopened for business.
Downtown businesses damaged by the
blasts and fires were offered 30-day interest free loans this morning by
Bay Bank Merchants of New Bedford as a "goodwill gesture and community
concern effort" by the bank.
Mayor John A. Markey said today he
will make federal Community Development funds available to businessmen
for storefront renovations. Fifty per cent grants up to $2,00 will be
offered.
Meanwhile, the New Bedford Gas and
Edison Light Co. last night uncovered a crack in a 16-inch high-pressure
gas main at Union Street and Johnny Cake Hill which they believe caused
yesterday's devastation.
The crack was isolated at about 5
p.m. yesterday, and the gas fire which had raged for more than 12 hours
was extinguished.
A spokesman for the state
Department of Public Utilities said the department had an investigator
on the scene yesterday and again today. A report will be issues later,
he said. The cause of the bread was still unknown.
R. F. MacDonald, executive
vice-president of the NBG&E, said the company is meeting with its
insurance company today. He indicated the gas company may be liable for
damage caused by the explosions.
Chief Almeida said the Fire
Prevention Bureau is investigating the cause of the blasts and fires,
but has not yet fixed the blame.
The Old Dartmouth Historical
Society Whaling Museum was alive with activity this morning as
contractors finished boarding up windows blown out by yesterday's blast.
The museum's treasures were
unscathed, according to the museum Director Richard C. Kugler, and all
but the Bourne Building, housing the half-scale whaling bark Lagoda,
would reopen at about 10 a.m. tomorrow, he said.
Kugler said the museum has received
calls from all over the country from people offering help and expressing
concern about the museum's collection. Many had heard that the museum
and nearby Seamen's Bethel were destroyed, he said. The fate of the
museum-owned Whittle Building at 10 William St., heavily damaged in one
of the gas explosions and fire at 7:08 yesterday morning, remained in
doubt today.
Despite the hopes of the Waterfront
Historic Area League that the early 19th-Century building be restored,
Kugler said that the building was so Badly damaged "there seems to be no
alternative to its demolition."
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