Sep 2, 2015 1 min read

Washington County jail Warden John Temas on Wednesday told members of the prison board who may have heard a big bang in the vicinity of the facility at 12:10 p.m. Tuesday that the explosion was due to a natural gas buildup from a water heater’s clogged exhaust pipe.

The pipe is vented toward a walkway and concrete staircase between the jail and Washington’s central fire department, so firefighters immediately came to check the situation, although they did not have to deploy any equipment. Members of the county maintenance staff and a technician who were working on the water tank were uninjuured, Temas said.