DANVERS - The Massachusetts Senate yesterday approved sending Danvers $2.3 million to cover the cost to the town of the Nov. 22 explosion at CAI Inc. and Arnel Co., which leveled part of the Danversport neighborhood.

The money will pay for overtime for police and firefighters, as well as repairs to sewer lines and other infrastructure damaged by the blast, which Danvers Town Manager Wayne Marquis earlier this week estimated at $2 million or more.

Senate Majority Leader Fred Berry, D-Peabody, said the Senate approved more than $2 million to give Marquis "wiggle room" as costs rise.

Danvers asked for state assistance because it would not meet a $7.7 million threshold for federal disaster assistance. That would mean Danvers would have to shoulder the entire cost of responding to the blast.

The Senate OK'd the money when it approved a larger House bill to spend $15 million to prepare the state for an avian flu outbreak. The pandemic flu bill sets aside $8 million for thousands of doses of anti-viral medication, $6.5 million for new hospital beds and ventilators, and $500,000 to study whether the state is prepared for a public health crisis. Rep. Barry R. Finegold, D-Andover, has been a leading proponent of avian-flu preparation in the House, where the bill originated.

The bill now returns to the House, which has to approve the Senate changes.

Berry said he is hopeful the House will "recognize the crisis" in Danvers, approve the changes and send the bill back to the Senate. The House could take the bill up as soon as today.

At least one House change is anticipated. Rep. Ted Speliotis, D-Danvers, said he expects to amend the bill to allow Danvers to offer property tax abatements to homeowners whose houses were damaged by the blast but where the damage equaled less than half the home's value. State law requires legislative approval for abatements on property where the damage equals less than 50 percent of the property's value.

The flu bill got through without flood assistance North of Boston has been promised for months. Lawmakers considered attaching the aid to the Senate bill yesterday, but the legislation was not finished in time.