KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasConstruction Blast Source of Loud Boom in Northwest Valley
A construction blast heard throughout the northwest part of the valley Monday should not have been detonated so late in the day.
Clark County code bans construction blasts after 4 p.m. unless there's special permission.
Sandex, the Henderson-based company that conducted the blast did have all the proper permits. But Clark County fire code requires blasting to be conducted between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The blast occurred after 4 p.m. without prior permission.
The blasting took place on Bureau of Land Management land in a quarry due west of Lone Mountain Road and the 215 Beltway.
Fire officials say, as quarry blasting goes, this one was on the small side using 46-hundred pounds of explosives. Residents would only be notified in advance if the blast were to occur within 1,000 feet of their homes. In this case, the nearest homes were more than a mile away.
So, why was the sound heard so widely?
Clark County Fire Department spokesman Girard Page explained, "If you have an inversion, it could be a temperature inversion or a pressure inversion or it can be clouds, you are going to bounce sound waves off of those surfaces up in the atmosphere and it will reflect sound back to the ground. It is not unheard of, it is known that that happens and I think that's what we are seeing on this blast yesterday."
The fire department says it only received two formal complaints about Monday's blast. But an investigation is underway and the company could be cited.
Fire officials say it is likely they would have approved the after-hours blast had it been asked. It is better to detonate the explosives than leave them in the ground for the night is the reasoning.
The Channel 8 I-Team did call Sandex for comment. A reply has not yet -- and we have not received a reply.
No one has reported any damage, but hundreds of homes were shaken and the loud boom startled residents.
Channel 8 Eyewitness News received calls from people in the areas of Summerlin Parkway and Lone Mountain, 215 and Cheyenne, and as far away as Lake Mead and Buffalo moments after the blast took place.
The city of Henderson is working on revising its blasting regulations after complaints in that community. Henderson requires written notice to homeowners in the area at least seven days in advance.
The notice must include: why the blasting is necessary, the name of the blasting company, the date and time of the blasting, a map of the blasting area, and contact information.
