A massive explosion has completely destroyed a home in Pennsylvania and left one man hospitalized with severe burns after he miraculously survived the blast.
The explosion occurred at a guest house on the homeowner’s property in Sewickley Heights, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night.
The victim, who has not been identified, suffered horrific burns on his hands and was promptly rushed to the hospital.
The homeowner, who was not injured by the explosion, told Action News 4 a technician was attempting to ignite the pilot light on the furnace in the basement of their guest house when the blast occurred.
While authorities are still investigating the cause of the explosion, firefighters on the scene said a gas leak may have caused the tragedy, according to local reports.
A massive explosion completely destroyed a guest house in Sewickley Heights, Pennsylvania, and left one man severely burned on Tuesday night
The victim, who has not been identified, miraculously survived the blast with horrific burns on his hands and was promptly rushed to the hospital
The homeowner said a technician was attempting to ignite the pilot light on the furnace in the basement of their guest house when the blast occurred
Multiple crews from Allegheny County rushed to a house on Backbone Road at around 5.30pm on Tuesday following reports of an explosion.
The blast was strong enough to physically shake homes in the area, and even those located miles away.
Rich Engler, a neighbor living at least 15 acres away, reported that the shockwave knocked items off his shelves and shattered glass upon impact.
‘I go, ”Oh my, it’s the Tippins’ property,” and that’s where we bolted up there,’ Engler said.
He called 911 immediately and said he saw a man on the ground yelling for help when he ran to the scene.
‘As I got up there, I started shouting, ”Is anybody around, is anybody around, can we help?’ And I hear a faint, faint voice saying, ‘Help me, help me,”’ he told CBS Pittsburgh.
‘I ran back to look at him and he was in total shock,’ he added. ‘I couldn’t even believe somebody made it out of that explosion alive and I could see his hands were really burnt up.’
While authorities are still investigating the cause of the explosion, firefighters on the scene have suggested that a gas leak led to the tragedy, according to local reports
The blast was strong enough to physically shake homes in the area, and even those located miles away
The technician, reportedly a plumber with a heating and cooling company, was reportedly the only individual inside the guest house when the explosion occurred.
The homeowner said she was out and her husband was napping in the main house, which was not damaged by the expulsion.
The unidentified person suffered severe burns on his hands and was rushed to a nearby hospital.
Witnesses described it as a ‘miracle’ that he survived the blast, but his condition is not known as of Wednesday morning.
Engler said: ‘There is nothing left of the house, zero. I mean, it is gone.’
Another local man, Will BoJalad of Sewickley Heights, told CBS news that ‘it sounded like a bomb’.
‘I felt a sudden explosion and then maybe two seconds after that it felt like a less quiet vibration,’ he said.
Multiple crews from Allegheny County rushed to a house on Backbone Road at around 5.30pm on Tuesday for reports of an explosion
Columbia Gas, the utility company responsible for the gas supply in the area, said its employees were not working in the area when the explosion happened.
The utility company also turned off the gas service to the house as a precaution.
“No other customers in the area were impacted by this incident,’ the company said in a statement.
‘Columbia Gas had no technicians working at that residence, nor were any crews working in the Sewickley Heights area today,’
‘It does not appear that any Columbia Gas distribution facilities were involved, and Columbia Gas continues to work with local fire and police first responders to investigate the cause of the explosion.