NU Online News Service, April 5, 2:26 p.m. EST
The National Fire Protection Association said it is asking insurers to provide data for a study of the possible perils from lightning damage to corrugated stainless steel fuel gas piping.
Quincy, Mass.-based NFPA said the lightning safety research initiative would focus on the possible hazards posed by the relatively new gas piping system.
NFPA said it wants carriers to be part of a study on installation methods of corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST), which it said has been found to be susceptible to damage from direct and nearby lightning strikes.
Insurance loss data associated with structures equipped with CSST would be helpful to the NFPA's review, the organization said.
According to NFPA, It is estimated that more than a million U.S. properties currently contain CSST piping.
It was noted that the industry group, Hartford, Conn.-based Lightning Safety Alliance, has conducted detailed technical reviews at the sites of five CSST incidents and two sites where CSST was installed but there was no incident. "We are making progress, but do not have all the answers," said Mitchell Guthrie, an independent engineering consultant.
CSST, the NFPA explained, is a type of flexible piping that has been widely used in homes and commercial fuel gas applications in recent years. In some cases, lightning appears to have created holes in the CSST, allowing gas to leak and, consequently, resulting in house fires.
The Lightning problems associated with CSST, the association noted, received national attention in 2007, when class action litigation between property owners and CSST manufacturers was settled. The settlement provided vouchers for the installation of additional grounding and bonding measures to help mitigate potential hazards.
Speaking at the 78th annual joint conference of the Lightning Protection Institute and United Lightning Protection Association in Nashville, Tenn., Mr. Guthrie said the NFPA Research Foundation's initial effort has been to define the scope and preliminary work plan for the first phase of the research project to develop and validate installation methods for CSST piping.
Mr. Guthrie, who formerly served as chair of the NFPA Technical Committee on Lightning Protection and is an NFPA 780 representative on the NFPA Standards Council Task Group on CSST, explained that the research effort would include all types of structures and piping and would include a focus on how lightning energy affects CSST.
He said the study also would include a literature review of incidents as well as applicable studies. A request for proposals is now out for review. "We are looking for a broad range of stakeholders to participate in the NFPA Research Foundation project, including manufacturers, installers, contractors, the propane industry, fire safety experts, lightning consultants and the insurance industry," Mr. Guthrie said.
The LPI is a not-for-profit, nationwide group founded in 1955 to promote lightning safety, awareness and protection education. The organization provides a certification program to qualify competence in lightning protection installation, design and inspection. The LPI offers a list of certified contractors across the United States.
More information about lightning protection is on the LPI Web site, www.lightning.org.
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