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The home at 141 Rustic Ridge was owned by Paul and Heather Oravitz, and all six victims were inside that home when it exploded. Three homes were destroyed by the blast; 10 homes have been identified as possibly being structurally compromised.
PHOTOS: House explosion in Plum Borough
“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. “There are three structures destroyed and at least a dozen more damaged in some way,” authorities said. Bishop David Zubik hosted a prayer service for the community on Tuesday at Saint John the Baptist Church in Plum.
Plum house explosion: 6th person dies; cause of blast remains unknown
Moore said the LAPD had knocked on doors of the surrounding homes and advised residents to temporarily evacuate prior to the planned detonation. However, he said that people were found inside some of the homes that were believed to be evacuated after the blast. The force of the explosion destroyed the bomb squad trailer container. The cover of the container was found to have landed on Adams Boulevard, which Moore described as being a “substantial distance away” from the blast site.
House explosion victims identified
Plum House Explosion: Blast Point Of Origin Identified - Patch.com
Plum House Explosion: Blast Point Of Origin Identified.
Posted: Mon, 11 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
County spokesperson Amie Downs said emergency responders reported people trapped under debris after one house apparently exploded and two others were engulfed in flames. Crews from at least 18 fire departments were working to douse the flames with the help of water tankers from Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. Emergency responders reported people trapped under debris after the blast leveled one house and left two others engulfed in flames, county spokesperson Amie Downs said. Crews from at least 18 fire departments worked to douse the flames with the help of water tankers from Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. The Allegheny County fire marshal’s office is leading the investigation, along with local law enforcement.
I’ve directed the LAPD to conduct a full investigation into this incident, so we can better understand why this happened. Since the explosion, Zarroli has struggled with understanding why it happened. The borough also has not yet received any applications for alterations to any houses there. Hubner said the side of the house facing the explosion, which took most of the concussion, will need to be stripped to look for framing damage. The houses on either side — the Thomas house closer to Zarroli and the home of Harrison and Kelly Smith on the other side — also were destroyed.
During the initial response, 57 firefighters were treated on the scene for "minor issues" and all returned to duty that day, officials said. On-scene investigative efforts also have been completed, the Fire Marshal’s Office said. Joint investigative efforts with agencies including the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and Public Utility Commission, Plum police, Peoples natural gas company and several insurance carriers continue. Per state law, the Fire Marshal’s Office will determine the explosion’s origin and cause at the end of its investigation.
Wednesday, Paul Oravitz, 56, died in the hospital from his injuries, Allegheny County officials confirm. Walsh said the district will open its doors to students, staff and the community for support services. In 2008, a house exploded along Mardi Gras Drive in Plum, killing a man and seriously injuring a 4-year-old girl. The National Transportation Safety Board investigated and discovered it was caused by a two-inch gas line that was damaged and then failed five years later after it corroded. There are a lot of questions surrounding Saturday’s house explosion, which is the third house explosion in Plum over the last 15 years. His daughter Emily told us her dad truly had a heart of gold, and that he was the most selfless man and offered a helping hand to everyone.
Allegheny County library card holders can get free admission to over a dozen attractions this summer
Plum community continues to rebuild 3 months after tragic house explosion - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Plum community continues to rebuild 3 months after tragic house explosion.
Posted: Tue, 14 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
The Plum Borough officials and the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner identified them as Casey Clontz, 38; his son, Keegan Clontz, 12; Heather Oravitz, 51; Kevin Sebunia, 55; and Michael Thomas, 57. Four adults and one adolescent were also recovered from the debris, officials said. 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.
Plum House Explosion: What we’ve learned about the 6 victims, the legacies left behind
There also was another explosion in 1996 where natural gas was determined to be the cause. People who live along Rustic Ridge Drive say that when the explosion happened, it was the loudest sound they've ever heard. Neighbors said they smelled gas Tuesday and called the gas company, which confirmed the leaks. One leak was along Kathy Lynn Drive and the other was at Crestview and Mower drives. The Regency Park and Rustic Ridge neighborhoods are about a 10-minute drive apart. To this point, there are holds on the three destroyed properties.
People should call 911 and the gas company from outside the house, not reenter it and wait for first responders to arrive. Baltimore County fire officials said they were called to the scene in the Essex community east of Baltimore just after 11 p.m. There crews found the home engulfed by fire, WBAL-TV reported. The explosion comes following a massive blast related to illegal commercial grade fireworks in Ontario that killed two people on March 16.
Plum has yet to receive any applications for demolition of homes in Rustic Ridge, said David Soboslay, the borough’s interim manager. Hubner said the Zarroli house isn’t as badly damaged as others in the vicinity because of where and how it sits. Zarroli, his wife and their son, Mark, 20, were home that Saturday morning, getting ready to leave. Zarroli’s house is among 10 others that were so badly damaged they were declared uninhabitable. Zarroli and his wife, Stacie, lived at 138 Rustic Ridge Drive since 2008.
Three days after the deadly house explosion in Plum's Rustic Ridge neighborhood, crews investigated two gas leaks in Plum's Regency Park neighborhood on Tuesday. Three nearby homes were destroyed and a dozen other homes were damaged in the blast on Saturday. A company spokesperson said Wednesday that it had completed additional system testing with the Fire Marshal’s office and the state Public Utility Commission, meaning it can now begin restoring gas service. Company technicians will be going door to door to conduct a safety check and relight customers’ appliances, the spokesperson said. Six people were killed in the house explosion in Plum on Saturday. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s office has confirmed the house that exploded had hot water tank issues.
The PUC added that they’re investigating if public utility infrastructure or operations contributed to the cause and circumstances surrounding the explosion. Borough Manager Michael Thomas, 57, was also killed in the blast. He lived one home over, but he was next door inside the home that exploded at the time. His wife, who is a teacher at Butler Area School District, daughter and their dog were in their home.
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