Oct 25, 2006 9:57 am US/Central
Wave Of Copper Theft Leaves Homes Vulnerable
by Bridgette Bornstein
Minneapolis (WCCO) ―
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Thieves are targeting copper piping in houses, which leaves homes vulnerable to gas explosions.
CBS
Odds are you use natural gas to stay warm. But if that gas doesn't go where it's supposed to, it can be dangerous. That's why local fire crews raced to at least a dozen homes in the past couple months.
Two of the houses even blew up, and all of it happened because thieves are sneaking in and cutting copper pipes right out of the buildings. It's a serious threat for all homeowners.
Last month a house explosion on Thomas Avenue North shocked the neighbors, but not the firefighters. Photos taken by firefighters inside the house show that someone cut the copper and yanked out the pipe. But the gas was still on, leaked and exploded.
"The scrappers don't care if they cut your water and gas lines. They just want the pipe to sell at scrap yards. We're talking about buildings that are lifted off their foundation," said Sgt. Sean McKenna of the Minneapolis Fire Department Arson Squad.
No one was hurt in the Thomas Avenue fire, but a couple weeks earlier on Colfax Avenue North, a woman was badly burned in a house explosion.
Copper is selling near record highs, so the thieves can get good prices at scrap yards. When the metal is brought there, it's typically without any markings to identify it, so it's impossible to tell the legitimate stuff from the stolen copper.
"It will come in forms that you can't tell the difference. So we can notify the police, and they do the best they can, but if it's not identifiable there's nothing they can do," said American Iron General Manager Daryl Parks.
At American Iron, sellers have to have identification. If they get caught stealing, they're not welcome there again.
"If we know that that person should not have that, we will not buy it," said Parks.
All the processors in town share information about stolen metal to try to cut off the thieves. But now there's talk of stepping up their efforts with a central registry, connected with the police, to identify even more stolen goods.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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