A rooftop blast occurred at the building that houses Good Karma restaurant on Wednesday, forcing the establishment to temporarily close down and drawing firefighters, police officers and other investigators to the scene.
Nobody was injured in the blast, reported at just before 9 a.m. Three customers and a few restaurant workers were inside, Jason Stucki, a Park City Fire District captain who responded, said.
Stucki said people in a building next door to Good Karma said they heard a “loud boom” and saw flames. There were no flames visible when the firefighters arrived, though, and an investigator said there was not a fire.
Firefighters who ascended to the roof said they discovered the covers of a roof-mounted furnace had been forced open. The covers normally would not be open, Stucki said. Natural-gas service to the building, 1782 Prospector Ave., was temporarily turned off as a precaution.
Kurt Simister, a City Hall building inspector who investigated, said it appeared that there was a faulty control valve attached to the furnace. The malfunctioning valve allowed natural gas to leak into the furnace’s combustion chamber, Simister said. The furnace’s igniter then set off the blast, according to Simister.
Simister estimated the damage to be $1,500 to the furnace. The building was not damaged, he said.
Safety controls on the furnace shut the appliance down after the blast.
Houman Gohary, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife, said a new heating unit was installed Thursday morning. The restaurant reopened midday Thursday.
“It was unusual. You don’t have fire departments and police come to your building and try to figure out what’s going on,” Gohary said.