Table Of Content
- Best of NBC News
- House explosion in Pennsylvania kills five and destroys three structures
- ‘It looks like a war zone,’ neighbor says
- Red Cross says multiple people were displaced because of the fire
- Husband and wife killed, adult son injured in Upper Dublin house fire
- Wild video shows explosion that killed woman and decimated Utah home
- An explosion razes a home in Maryland, sending 1 person to the hospital
- A Hawaii military family avoids tap water at home. …
Baltimore County fire officials said they were called to the scene in the Essex community east of Baltimore just after 11 p.m. A neighbor said he smelled natural gas earlier Saturday night and called it into the gas company. He said the military immediately closed the road to the base and “villagers were in a panic, seeking a safe place.” He then moved his family to his parent’s home, farther away from the base. When he returned to his own house hours later, he found it undamaged but other villagers’ houses had broken windows, doors and roofs, he said. PLUM, Pa. — The co-owner of a home that exploded in western Pennsylvania last weekend has died from injuries he suffered in the blast, which also killed his wife and four other people.
Best of NBC News
The Allegheny county medical examiner’s office is expected to provide additional information about the deceased victims. However, he wasn't able to get the family's three cats and hopes they are all right. "It's just tragic, I mean, it looks like a war zone — it looks like a bomb hit our neighborhood and it's just unfortunate," Kolankowski said. "I was just with some of the neighbors yesterday, right, and now this happens." Pottstown Fire Chief Frank Hand said the aftermath of the explosion was “devastating.” Two houses were destroyed and more were damaged.
House explosion in Pennsylvania kills five and destroys three structures
Paul Oravitz, 56, who had severe burns over most of his body, died Wednesday in a Pittsburgh hospital, four days after the explosion in Plum. “This isn’t the first time that this has happened in Plum,” neighbor Justin Newman told the outlet. Two of the five dead victims have been identified as Casey Clontz and his son, Keegan, the Trib reported. One of the injured is in critical but stable condition, while the second surviving victim is in surgery for unknown injuries, Pottstown Borough Manager Justin Keller said at a Friday press conference. "I heard a huge explosion," Russell Noll, a neighbor, told NBC10 Philadelphia.
‘It looks like a war zone,’ neighbor says
After recovering and checking on his son, he went outside where he said a woman told him another woman had been upstairs and a man was in the basement. The other woman later emerged covered in white ash, but the individual in the basement had not yet exited, he said. The cause of the explosion is under investigation by the county fire marshal's office along with borough and county law enforcement. Imbarlina warned that the investigation would be a "slow and long process" that would include a lot of forensic testing and could last "months if not years." George Emanuele, who lives three houses down from the home that exploded, said he and a neighbor went to the home after the explosion and dragged a man laying in the backyard away from the scene, he told the Tribune-Review.
Red Cross says multiple people were displaced because of the fire
“Please give us some time to deal with this situation and give the families your respect and give them some space to deal with this tragedy,” Conley said. Officials have said one was found outside a garage, four were in the basement and the sixth was located and rescued from the rear yard. The first unit arrived a few minutes after the call to find the home "completely leveled by some type of explosion," Crescent Township Volunteer Fire Department Chief Andrew Tomer said at a news briefing.
Husband and wife killed, adult son injured in Upper Dublin house fire
Residents of the area where the explosion happened described a chaotic aftermath. “I am in constant communication with Governor Shapiro, who has expressed his unwavering support for the Plum community and for the use of all available investigative measures. At the Governor’s request, an extensive amount of testing has been completed. Over the next few days additional testing will be conducted and shared with the public appropriately,” added Negrin.
Emergency medical workers treated 57 firefighters for minor issues while they responded to the explosion and fire, Chief Imbarlina said. Lanny Conley, the chief of the Plum Borough Police Department, said at a news conference Sunday afternoon that four adults and one adolescent had died and been recovered from the scene. “This is certainly a sad, sad day and a sad time, for not just the folks in Plum but all the folks in the community and in this region,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said, AP reported. Three people were taken to area hospitals, including one who was in critical condition and two who were treated and released. “We thought that either an earthquake was happening or that someone crashed into the building,” Kaite Washabaugh, who lives down the street, told the Fox affiliate.
An explosion razes a home in Maryland, sending 1 person to the hospital
Two other people had also been hospitalized in stable condition after the blast. “From the moment DEP was called in to investigate, our experts have worked tirelessly alongside county officials and partner agencies to aid in identifying the cause,” said DEP Secretary Rich Negrin. State investigators are now searching for stray gas near the site of a home explosion in Plum, Allegheny County on Saturday, Aug. 12 that killed six people. The cause of the explosion remained under investigation, which was expected to take some time, officials said. Two other adults were in critical condition after the blast that occurred minutes after 8 p.m.
A Hawaii military family avoids tap water at home. …
The police chief of the community of Plum, Lanny Conley, said the bodies of four adults and one adolescent were recovered after the blast shortly before 10.30am on Saturday. "This is certainly a sad, sad day and a sad time, for not just the folks in Plum but all the folks in the community and in this region," said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. Officials were back at the scene Sunday morning, and a news conference was scheduled for noon, the Facebook post said. After he recovered and checked on his son, Kolankowski went outside, where a woman told him that another woman had been upstairs and that a man was in the basement. The other woman emerged later covered in white ash, but the person in the basement hadn’t yet exited, he said. Downs said officials don't expect to have information about the cause of the explosion "for quite some time."
The DEP evaluated the coal seam near Plum, Pa. and noted no nearby shafts or drill/boreholes in the area of the explosion, concluding the chance of the gas issue coming from an abandoned mine is very low. Abandoned mine features are not part of the DEP’s investigation at this time. Two firefighters stand on the debris around the smoldering wreckage of the the three houses that exploded near Rustic Ridge Drive and Brookside Drive in Plum, Pa., on Saturday. Five adults and one child died as a result of the explosion, Plum Borough Police Chief Lanny Conley confirmed to reporters.
Horrifying video captures the moment a house was blown to smithereens in western Pennsylvania, killing five people — including a 38-year-old man and his 12-year-old son — and critically injuring a sixth person. Four of the five victims killed were children, ABC Philadelphia station WPVI reported. He said he checked on his son and then went outside to find a woman covered in white ash. Kolankowski was told that a man who had been in the basement had not yet exited. Rafal Kolankowski, who also lives near the explosion scene, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the blast broke his home’s windows and knocked him and his wife to the floor.
Governor Josh Shapiro’s administration is working with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as it conducts its investigation. Gov. Josh Shapiro said he and the first lady were "praying for the families" affected and promised them that "as you rebuild, we will have your back." "Please give us some time to deal with this situation and give the families your respect and give them some space to deal with this tragedy," Conley said.
Imbarlina warned that the investigation would be a “slow and long process” that would include a lot of forensic testing and could last “months if not years”. Six people were killed, including a child, in a Pennsylvania house explosion over the weekend that caused multiple injuries, leveled two other homes and damaged at least a dozen residences, according to authorities. Fifty-seven firefighters were treated for "minor issues" at the scene and released, Steve Imbarlina, assistant chief of fire/emergency medical services at Allegheny County Emergency Service, told reporters Sunday afternoon. Steve Imbarlina, the assistant chief for Allegheny County emergency services, said that two of the injured people had been released from the hospital and a third was in critical condition on Sunday afternoon. Three homes on Rustic Ridge Drive were leveled by the explosion, and about a dozen others were damaged, county officials said at a news conference Saturday night. The cause of the explosion is under investigation by Plum and county law enforcement agencies and the county fire marshal’s office.
Casey and Keegan, who lived on nearby Brookside Drive, were at the house at 141 Rustic Ridge Drive when it exploded, the family told the Trib. In addition to those killed, two people were being treated for injuries, Pottstown Borough Manager Justin Keller said. One of them was undergoing surgery for unknown injuries and the other was in critical but stable condition, he said.
House explosion near Pittsburgh kills 2 people near Crescent Township - Akron Beacon Journal
House explosion near Pittsburgh kills 2 people near Crescent Township.
Posted: Tue, 12 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
ESSEX, Md. (AP) — An explosion razed a home in suburban Baltimore, officials said, sending one person to the hospital for injuries and requiring aid from dozens of firefighters to douse the flames. One man with burn injuries that were considered non-life threatening was taken to the hospital, but it wasn’t immediately clear if the person had been in the house or outside, fire Lt. Twana Allen said Sunday. Two other nearby homes received moderate damage stemming from the fire, which was extinguished by Sunday morning and still under investigation, Allen said. ESSEX, Md. — An explosion razed a home in suburban Baltimore, officials said, sending one person to the hospital for injuries and requiring aid from dozens of firefighters to douse the flames. Meanwhile, 57 firefighters were treated at the scene for minor issues, including heat-related injuries, WTAE reported, citing Steve Imbarlina, assistant chief of Allegheny County Emergency Services.
