by Brigitte Fleeman
In an earthquake, things move and gas lines can fail. Fires are the most destructive force in an earthquake (in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, 90% of the damage was from fire).
Earthquakes are a matter of when and not if. Do you know how to shut off your gas line? An automatic shutoff gas valve could be a cheap investment to save your photos, cookbooks and home, when you’re not there, an automatic solution, endorsed by CERT and our fire department, that could make our neighborhood safer.
Over 2/3 of my neighbors in Town Square Paseo at the Mountain View train station have an automatic gas shutoff valve–Excess Flow Valves, as a precaution for earthquakes and gas fires, because they reset automatically (without PG&E) and are triggered ONLY by a ruptured gas line caused by earthquakes and other disasters, not the train blowing its whistle.
If you are interested, our supplier, Larry Pasquale, Home Safety 1st, offers for the OMVNA neighborhood considerable discounts for multiple installations on the same day: 2 to 4 installations on the same day, $30 less, and 5 to 10 installations, $80 off the normal price of $388. Valve installation for houses over 3600 sq. ft. may require individual quotes and are discounted accordingly.
For OMVNA, installations completed by April 30, 2011, you can win one of the $300 refunds for every 10 paid installations. A flyer summarizing the details will be posted on OMVNATalk. For information, email me (Dr.B.Fleeman@gmail.com) or call at (650) 960-3556 with name, address, phone number, email, house size, house age. Access to the gas water heater is required at installation time to relight the pilot. (Note: I have no financial interest in this.)
