Kris B. Mamula
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
(TNS)
Aug. 13—Five bodies have been recovered from the scene of Saturday's Plum Borough fire, four adults and an adolescent, police Chief Lanny Conley said Sunday.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner will release the identities, he said. At a news conference where Chief Conley spoke, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said the tragedy was a "loss that no words can convey."
"This is just a sad, sad day," Mr. Fitzgerald said.
At the news conference, Peoples Natural Gas president Mike Huwar said no immediate problems were found at the scene.
"Our system operated as designed," he said, adding that the Allegheny County Fire Marshal is leading the investigation into the cause.
It can sometimes take years to tease out the cause of a house explosion in southwestern Pennsylvania because of the surface and subsurface activities that layer on top of each other.
The Rustic Ridge housing development sits on top of abandoned mine land and is surrounded by shallow oil and gas wells, some still producing and some abandoned.
Two producing vertical gas wells are within about 1,000 feet of the home that exploded.
There is also a pipeline that runs behind the development, but none of these structures have been identified as the cause of the blast.
Sunday at noon, natural gas service was still out for about 50 homes in the Rustic Ridge development where the blast occurred. Rescue workers continued to comb through the debris.
About 200 homes in the Rustic Ridge plan were without power Sunday morning, according to Duquesne Light spokesman Nicholas Ruffolo. Duquesne Light workers were waiting for the OK to restore power.
The explosion occurred about 10:20 a.m. Saturday on a Rustic Ridge Drive cul-de-sac at the intersection of Brookside Drive in Rustic Ridge Estates, a planned unit development with hiking trails and baseball and soccer fields, about 20 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
The Holiday Park section of the borough was rocked by two house explosions in recent years: the first on Mardi Gras Drive in 2008 that killed 64-year-old Richard Leith and injured his 4-year-old granddaughter, Gianna Pettinato; and the second in April 2022, when a house on Hialeah Drive was destroyed, displacing a family, but not causing any deaths.
The cause of that explosion has not been determined.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that a corrosion of an underground 2-inch gas line led to a leak that caused the 2008 blast. An excavator nicked the line in 2003, tearing off some of its protective coating, speeding corrosion.
The death count in the latest explosion grew late Saturday after officials combed through the rubble of the house that exploded and two other houses that burned to the ground. At a news conference at 9:45 p.m., investigators confirmed the fatalities and said they had suspended their search until Sunday morning because of storms in the region.
One of the homes that was destroyed belonged to longtime borough manager Michael Thomas. Mr. Thomas' home was next door to the house that exploded midmorning Saturday. Two nearby houses also were leveled in flames from the blast. Plum Borough Council President Mike Doyle confirmed that Mr. Thomas' home was destroyed along with one owned by Paul D. and Heather L. Oravitz.
Ms. Oravitz is Plum's director of community development, a municipal department that coordinates and overseen land development proposals and activities.
The county Medical Examiner hasn't released the named of the fatalities. Identification could take some time, depending on whether DNA evidence is needed for confirmation.
As Sunday dawned under sunny skies, the Plum community sprang into action with dozens of volunteers turning out to collect money and distribute packages of bottled water and other drinks along roads in the Rustic Ridge plan of houses as temperatures pushed into the low 80s.
Brett Stevenson, 49, filled his pickup truck with supplies and dropped them off at the home of Chris Spudich on Rustic Ridge Drive after hearing his pastor talk about the need at morning church services. Social media also carried the message, Mr. Spudich said.
Among the families stopping by for diapers and other supplies was a young couple who Mr. Spudich, 50, said lost everything in the explosion; the woman, sobbing in his driveway, was 7 months pregnant, he said.
And Mr. Spudich's home was not the only place for donations — two other nearby homes also served as distribution points Sunday and tables with fried chicken, burgers and coleslaw were set up in the neighborhood for supper.
Jen Corson, 46, said donations from Plum High School's cheerleaders, who collected donations at a local market, the midget football team and a high school lacrosse coach, was used to buy the food. She prepared to serve visitors supper Sunday afternoon on the street.
On Saturday, big packages of water and other drinks were left at the beginning of the road, with neighbors then shuttling packages closer to the cul-de-sac where the explosion happened.
"Take what you need," a sign on one pack read. "Thank you first responders," read a big lawn sign.
The Red Cross and Salvation Army were also helping residents impacted by the explosion. Allegheny County Human Services also set up a Disaster Distress Helpline, which residents can reach by calling 1-800-985-5990 or texting "TalkWithUs" to 66746.
Between nine and 11 houses will have to be demolished, a neighbor said. Officials said Saturday that 12 homes were damaged.
The explosion and fire drew firefighters from 18 departments, including Plum, Penn Hills, New Kensington, Monroeville and Murrysville.
Neighbors described the scene as chaotic. Police and EMS vehicles lined the streets of the neighborhood and fire hoses snaked across streets to deliver water to the explosion site. Smoke was still rising from the debris hours after the explosion.
Plum Borough canceled municipal events Monday, including a council meeting and public hearing.
Residents filtered into the borough building throughout the morning for coffee and pastries. By afternoon, the building had mostly emptied out.
Outside the municipal building, the Scouts grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and residents donated other food items for first responders and residents, said Jim Plutto, Boy Scout Troop 111 Chair.
"It's just an outpouring of people wanting to help," said Mr. Plutto, 55. "Everybody feels the need to help out where they can."
Kris B. Mamula: [email protected]. Anya Litvak contributed to this report: [email protected]
___
(c)2023 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
