PLUM, Pa. — Three houses exploded in western Pennsylvania on Saturday morning, killing four people and leaving a fifth person missing, according to authorities. About 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh, in the borough of Plum, an explosion occurred at around 10:30 a.m., according to Allegheny County officials. Three persons were brought to hospitals.
One person was taken in critical condition, while the other two were treated and released from local hospitals. Authorities reported that over 20 firefighters were checked out, with several suffering from heat fatigue. Additional details about the victims’ deaths were anticipated from the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. Because of the weather and for the protection of the investigators, emergency officials halted activities on Saturday night. On Sunday, workers were scheduled to return to the site.
Amie Downs, a spokesperson for the county government, said that rescue workers received reports of people trapped under burning buildings after an explosion was heard at one residence and two more caught fire. At least 18 fire units responded, and water tankers from Allegheny and Westmoreland counties helped put out the fires, according to Downs. Reporters at the scene were told by officials that they did not know how many individuals were missing since they did not know who was home or who might have been visiting at the time of the explosion.
The county fire marshal’s office and local police in Plum are looking into what caused the blast. Local utilities and representatives from the state’s public utilities commission were also present. According to the Tribune-Review, a neighbor named George Emanuele who lives three homes away from the exploding home said that he and another neighbor ran to the house before the fire got out of control and dragged a man out of the rear.
Rafal Kolankowski, who lives nearby, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he and his wife were knocked to the ground by the blast, which shattered their windows. Kolankowski walked outside once he had recovered and checked on his son to find a woman who informed him that another woman had been upstairs and a male was in the basement. He stated the second woman eventually emerged from the basement, but the person who had been trapped there had yet to leave.
What happened here is awful; it looks like a war zone or a bomb went off in our neighborhood, as Kolankowski put it. To paraphrase, “I was just with some of the neighbors yesterday, right, and now this happens.” Jeremy Rogers, a neighbor who lives next door, told the publication that he received a notification about a problem at his property while he was out shopping and returned home to find “all sorts of stuff flying around.” He was able to rush back inside to save his dog, but he couldn’t find the three cats that had escaped with the rest of his family.
