How did 5 People Die In The Plum, Pennsylvania House Explosion

Table Of Content

• Investigators say cause of fatal Plum explosion came from inside the home
• victims identified
• Vehicle intentionally set on fire at Pa. State Police barracks
• Husband, wife identified after being killed in Pa. house explosion
• people, including a child, are dead after an explosion destroys 3 homes and damages 12 others

POTTSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A house exploded northwest of Philadelphia, killing five people and leaving two others injured, authorities said Friday. Plum police, county law enforcement and the county fire marshal’s office are investigating the cause of the explosion, AP reported. The explosion, which occurred in Plum, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles east of Pittsburgh, has killed six people, including a child, and left several homes damaged. The cause of the explosion is under investigation by the county fire marshal’s office along with borough and county law enforcement.

Investigators say cause of fatal Plum explosion came from inside the home

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. That house and two others were so badly damaged they must be demolished, and 10 others were not safe for residents in the weeks after the Aug. 12 blast about 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh. Ahjané Forbes is a reporter on the National Trending Team at USA TODAY. Ahjané covers breaking news, car recalls, crime, health, lottery and public policy stories.

victims identified

Email her at  Follow her on Instagram, Threads and X @forbesfineest. Palmer said that both firefighters were treated for severe smoke inhalation but are expected to be okay. In a Facebook post, Minersville Mayor Sean Palmer thanked Oscar Rivera for helping to bring his neighbors to safety.

Vehicle intentionally set on fire at Pa. State Police barracks

The Allegheny County fire marshal’s office said all potential outside factors were eliminated, including wells, pipelines and other utilities, pinpointing the source as a home on Rustic Ridge Drive in Plum Borough. However, he wasn't able to get the family's three cats and hopes they are all right. Plum and county law enforcement, as well as the county fire marshal's office, are investigating, and the state public utilities commission and local utilities were also at the scene. Officials said the investigation will be a "slow and long process" that could last for months or years. "Our Pennsylvania Rivers Chapter did respond and provided support to the 19 people impacted by this fire," Stephanie Fox, media relations lead for the American Red Cross National Headquarters told USA TODAY.

Husband, wife identified after being killed in Pa. house explosion

Company technicians will be going door to door to conduct a safety check and relight customers’ appliances, the spokesperson said. 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. PLUM, Pa. (AP) — Investigators said Friday the location of an explosion that killed six people and destroyed three houses near Pittsburgh last month was inside one of the homes, ruling out an outside cause. 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. 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.

Private well on property

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. Pennsylvania fire officials are still investigating the cause of a house explosion which left five people, including a child, dead and several other homes damaged, officials said Monday. Six people were killed and several others injured in a house explosion Saturday in Plum, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The explosion destroyed three structures and damaged at least a dozen others, authorities said.

people, including a child, are dead after an explosion destroys 3 homes and damages 12 others

Crescent Township police are warning people who may wish to donate that fraudulent fundraisers have been set up. The explosion is under investigation by the Allegheny County Fire Marshals Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He said the blast was so strong that people inside the factory thought there was an explosion inside and started to run out. Their factory along McGovern Boulevard in Crescent Township is right across the street from Riverview Road, separated by a large hillside. Officials are conducting follow-up interviews with some responders and witnesses, which is normal for such investigations, the fire marshal said. They continue to investigate the cause of the incident with further analysis of the interviews and physical evidence.

Those wells and pipelines were within a 2,500-foot radius of the home. The DEP said inspectors found detectible concentrations of combustible gas throughout the Rustic Ridge area on Aug. 14, but the gas is no longer detectible in soil near the incident. Isotopic samples, which help to identify molecular signatures, were collected Aug. 14 by the DEP and Peoples from soil and a nearby Peoples meter. Three homes were destroyed by the blast; 10 homes have been identified as possibly being structurally compromised. Officials continue to investigate the explosion that occurred just less than a month ago in Plum’s Rustic Ridge subdivision, the Fire Marshal’s Office said. Paul and Heather Oravitz, Kevin Sebunia, Mike Thomas and Casey and Keegan Clontz were killed in the explosion.

'This is a nightmare': Pennsylvania house explosion victims remembered by family, friends

Three people were taken to area hospitals, including one who was in critical condition and two who were treated and released. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office will provide additional information about the deceased victims, authorities said. Drone video shows smoke and debris from a house explosion in Crescent Township. 11 Investigates learned the state may have no record of the private well at the site of the explosion. PA’s Department of Environmental Protection’s oil and gas map shows no presence of a private gas well.

House Suddenly Explodes in Pennsylvania - Explosion - Newsweek

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Keegan played football for the Plum Mustangs and would have started junior high in a week and a half, the newspaper reported. Casey Clontz, 38, was a massive Pittsburgh Steelers fan and made sure everyone knew it, proudly tattooing his love of the team on his leg. Eighteen fire departments responded to the scene, which remains active. Allegheny County Emergency Management officials and the Allegheny County Fire Marshals are at the scene as well.

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. As authorities searched for the occupants, they found the bodies of the man and the woman, Tomer said. Abigail Gardner, the director of communications for Allegheny County, identified the victims as David Mitchell Jr. and Helen Mitchell. As of Saturday night, crews and investigators paused efforts, citing weather and "safety concerns," and said they plan to resume Sunday, Aug. 13.

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. Rafal Kolankowski, who lives a few houses away, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the explosion broke the windows in his house and knocked him and his wife to the ground. 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. In a news release late Monday, the county said the home where the explosion happened was having "hot water tank issues." The tank was in the basement CBS Pittsburgh reported. The sixth victim, Paul Oravitz, 56, died at a hospital Wednesday morning, county officials said.

The property at 141 Rustic Ridge will be turned over to the property owners and representatives. The fire marshal said it will continue to work with local officials on further remediation efforts to make the scene safe. One of the two pipelines, a suction line to a compressor station, was known to be leaking but was taken out of commission a week before the explosion, the DEP said. Investigators inspected seven conventional oil and gas wells and two gathering pipelines after the explosion and ruled they were all in compliance.