A gas explosion in northeast Philadelphia on Tuesday killed a gas company worker and five people to hospital, of whom three were in critical condition, authorities said.
Executive Fire Chief Daniel A. Williams said late Tuesday that the body of a dead Philadelphia Gas Works employee was found at the site of explosion in the 6900 block of Dale Avenue Torres in the Tacony neighborhood.
PGW spokesman Cameron Kline said just 11 hours before the PGW that three workers were in critical condition at Aria-Torres Dale Hospital. Another PGW employee in stable condition, such as an injured fireman.
The explosion occurred at about 8:30 p.m. Kline said a 12-inch gas line had exploded.
Warned about the smell of gas, firefighters and gas workers had cleared residents from homes in the area of the explosion and tried to address the leak in the pipeline. A water main was broken.
When the explosion occurred, said Williams, at least two homes and a truck were set ablaze PGW. Firefighters extinguished the fire eventually.
Jim Campoli, 61, was listening to oldies on the radio in his second story apartment above East Coast Dental Lab 6936 Dale Avenue in Tacony Torres then hit a policeman on his door around 7:30 pm and ordered him to evacuate.
Approximately one hour later, he and a number of people standing on the corner of Marsden and Disston look at the utility and the fire works in the street when the explosion occurred.
“Oh man! It just blew the whole street,” he said. The fireball rose 50 meters into the air, he said. The force of the explosion knocked down a man standing with Campoli. It shook houses in the neighborhood.
Jerry Emberger, 52, a resident who evacuated his home in the 6900 block of Marsden, said he spoke with an employee after the gas explosion.
“He bent down for a tool. The next thing he knew, he was across the street,” said Emberger.
A half hour after the main explosion, there were two minor explosions Emberger and others heard.
Gas readings were high, so the firefighters retreated to a safer distance.
“Every time you see a fire truck to go back, you go with them,” said Emberger.
Emberger, a few hundred meters of the explosion, said the flames shot high above the nearby buildings.
Earlier in the evening, officials had evacuated about 40 people, including 24 from a senior care home, such as firefighters and utility workers attempted to close the leak.
The gas leak, along with a water-main break was reported sometime before 7:30 pm, firefighters said. A Hazmat situation was declared because the smell of gas could be detected for several blocks. PGW crews tried to close the gas supply in the area. The Water Department was also on the scene to deal with the water-main break.
Campoli and other residents in the area, including those of the Disston Manor Personal Care Home, were sent to the leisure Disston Disston and Glenloch Streets.
PGW Director of Corporate Communications Doug Oliver said the utility tries to react quickly to every call about a gas leak for the sake of caution.
“Part of the routine for the gas business, you get that phone call, but you do not know if one of those calls could be if something goes wrong,” said Oliver.
source:philly.com
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