September 13, 2018

At Least 39 Homes Just Exploded or Caught Fire in Massachusetts. The Photos Are Devastating.

At least four people are being treated for injuries.

Mary Schwalm/AP

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At least 39 homes and businesses exploded or caught fire due to “possible gas line over-pressurization” on Thursday in Andover and Lawrence, Massachusetts, according to authorities, who have announced that all Andover fires are now extinguished.

As of Thursday evening, the Massachusetts State Police had responded or were in the process of responding to 70 fires, explosions, or “investigations of gas odor.” It’s unclear what caused the explosions, and at least four people are being treated for injuries, the Associated Press reports.

Residents have been ordered to evacuate all buildings and houses. 

https://twitter.com/MassStatePolice/status/1040366227678486528

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WE'LL BE BLUNT.

We have a considerable $390,000 gap in our online fundraising budget that we have to close by June 30. There is no wiggle room, we've already cut everything we can, and we urgently need more readers to pitch in—especially from this specific blurb you're reading right now.

We'll also be quite transparent and level-headed with you about this.

In "News Never Pays," our fearless CEO, Monika Bauerlein, connects the dots on several concerning media trends that, taken together, expose the fallacy behind the tragic state of journalism right now: That the marketplace will take care of providing the free and independent press citizens in a democracy need, and the Next New Thing to invest millions in will fix the problem. Bottom line: Journalism that serves the people needs the support of the people. That's the Next New Thing.

And it's what MoJo and our community of readers have been doing for 47 years now.

But staying afloat is harder than ever.

In "This Is Not a Crisis. It's The New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, why this moment is particularly urgent, and how we can best communicate that without screaming OMG PLEASE HELP over and over. We also touch on our history and how our nonprofit model makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there: Letting us go deep, focus on underreported beats, and bring unique perspectives to the day's news.

You're here for reporting like that, not fundraising, but one cannot exist without the other, and it's vitally important that we hit our intimidating $390,000 number in online donations by June 30.

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