Blast levels 2 homes, damages 24 others
PITTSBURGH — An apparent explosion leveled two houses and damaged at least two dozen others Friday in the city's North Side neighborhood, but there were no immediate reports of injuries, officials said.
The cause was not immediately known, but Equitable Gas Co. shut off natural gas service to the area, a dense residential neighborhood north of downtown.
Authorities received a report of a collapsed house on Lovitt Way at 10:31 a.m. and discovered two row houses completely destroyed, Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Michael Huss said. Authorities later said at least 24 other houses were damaged.
Huss said he could not confirm that an explosion had flattened the houses because an investigation was still under way.
"We just don't know," he said. "This is going to be a long, extended operation."
Police and emergency workers were combing the neighborhood to account for residents, Huss added.
Robert McCaughan, the city's chief of Emergency Medical Services, said a blast appeared to have originated in one of the two collapsed houses. Equitable Gas records and emergency workers said the house was vacant and the gas service turned off, company spokesman David Spigelmyer said. The house was owned by the city and had been condemned, according to Allegheny County property records.
A regional chapter of the American Red Cross said in a statement that it was helping 10 adults from seven families with services including food, clothing and shelter. Equitable Gas was paying for their lodging for the night, Red Cross spokesman Brian Knavish said.
Shortly after the blast, dozens of people gathered on nearby streets to gaze at a huge pile of rubble where the houses once stood. Bricks landed on the roof of a neighboring house and windows were shattered in buildings as far as two blocks away. Shards of glass were scattered on nearby sidewalks and streets. Workers cleared debris throughout the day as a light rain fell.
One witness, Darrin Adkins, said he called 911 after he drove past the house and felt an explosion.
"It hit so hard, I felt the repercussions in my chest," said Adkins, 40.
A telephone pole toppled in front of the houses was leaning precariously over the road.
"I'm just glad I wasn't right beside it," he said. "It snapped that pole like a twig."
Ray Wappes, 47, said he had owned a rental house across the street since 1993 and was summoned by a friend after the blast. He said his building was among those damaged by the explosion.
"The whole front's blown out," he said. "I had all new windows and doors. Everything's blown out."
Wappes said the second collapsed home was owned by an older man who had been living at a nursing home and the property was unoccupied at the time of the explosion.
