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Fires ALWAYS happening to someone else...
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Investigators: Natural gas prime suspect in New Castle blast5 people injured, 20 homes damaged by Monday afternoon explosionTuesday, November 28, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette NEW CASTLE -- Driving home after undergoing a root canal, Charlene Macri was waiting for a traffic light to turn green when her idling car abruptly rocked from side to side.
"I just talked to him to keep him from shock," said Ms. Macri, 39, of New Castle. "He kept asking for a glass of water. He was so burned and cut. What else could we do?" Before losing consciousness, the man -- identified by police as Patrick Henry, 30 -- told Ms. Macri he'd been in his bedroom when his house at 833 Franklin Ave. abruptly blew up. The blast at 12:29 p.m. leveled the rented frame house where Mr. Henry had lived for several months, hurled him outdoors and ignited a fire that raged there and next door at 831 Franklin for more than two hours. The explosion in this Lawrence County city was so powerful that witnesses told of seeing the house's roof shoot nearly 200 feet skyward, Police Chief Tom Sansone said. Others reported feeling it miles away. Authorities said five people were injured, three of them seriously: Mr. Henry and Jared and Sophia Baker of New Castle, who'd been walking through the alley beside Mr. Henry's house. Neighbors said the Bakers, whose relationship was unclear, may have been checking on Mr. Henry when he didn't go to work yesterday. Mr. Henry was in critical condition and Mr. Baker was in fair condition at Mercy Hospital, where they were flown by medical helicopter. Ms. Baker was flown to West Penn Hospital, where her condition was not released. Rondlyn Hill, a neighbor who was hit by debris, and an unidentified pregnant woman also were treated and released from Jameson Hospital in New Castle. The explosion also tore through the homes of Mr. Henry's next-door neighbors, damaged at least other 20 homes in a three-block area and wrecked windows, doors, siding and glassware all over New Castle's East Side.
New Castle officials last night had not determined the cause of the blast but said they were leaning toward a natural gas leak. Some residents, including Mr. Henry's next-door neighbor Keith Lemmon, said they smelled gas before the blast. Columbia Gas crews shut off gas to the neighborhood and worked through the day with emergency workers and a state police fire marshal to investigate. Utility spokeswoman Leslie Orbin said a Columbia gas worker was driving through the neighborhood at the time but had not been summoned to investigate a possible leak. Nor had the utility been to Mr. Henry's house in recent weeks, she said. Police said they considered other possible causes but found no evidence in the smoking wreckage and foundation of Mr. Henry's home. They also guided trained dogs through that property and around the pancaked remnants of the house at 831 Franklin, but said the dogs did not indicate that anyone had been killed or trapped by the explosion.
Ms. Macri, a former emergency medical technician, and health care workers from the nearby Haven Convalescent Home, soothed Mr. Henry while other passers-by tended to Ms. Baker. She said they were afraid to move him but also feared the house at 831 Franklin, which also was burning, would explode next. "He got up and sort of walked, but then his legs gave way," she said. Hours later, his bloody gray sweatshirt and white T-shirt still lay in Adeline and Jim DeLillo's front lawn, three doors down. Neighbors said Katie and Bill Hruska, who lived at 831 Franklin, were in Atlantic City when the explosion tore off one side and jack-knifed the front wall of their home, leaving planks, lamps and clothing tumbling out. The fire that followed destroyed the roof and much of the contents. On the other side, a blue bungalow at 835 Franklin did not burn. But the blast tore three huge holes and scores of smaller pockmarks into its side, blew out its windows, cracked brick porch supports and smashed belongings inside. Keith and Bonnie Lemmon were not home but rushed back when relatives called. "My sons said our house was half gone," said Mrs. Lemmon, who'd lived there for 26 years. "I think it's more than half gone. I was hoping they were exaggerating, but it's bad." Fire Chief Jeffrey Scrim said the Hruskas' home and possibly others on the street would have to be demolished. Lacking gas and electrical service last night, many residents of the street left their battered homes to stay with relatives or turned to the American Red Cross for shelter. |
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