A recent history of house explosions in the Pittsburgh area

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Tuesday’s deadly house explosion in Crescent Township is the latest in a string of recent home explosions in the Pittsburgh area over the last several months.

Three home explosions have occurred in different parts of Western Pennsylvania, with two of them turning deadly. 

“It was complete devastation when we first arrived on scene.”

A husband and wife of nearly 65 years were killed when their home along Riverview Road in Crescent Township exploded on Tuesday morning.

David and Helen Mitchell both died in the blast. 

The home where the explosion happened was leveled down to its foundation. 

Two other homes nearby were damaged with debris landing in nearby trees and yards and into the Ohio River down the hill from the blast.

Investigators say the home was serviced by a private well and not a public gas utility.  The Allegheny County Fire Marshal and ATF are investigating the cause of the explosion.  

Contractor severely burned in Sewickley Heights home explosion

Three different contractors were working on the furnace of a carriage home along Backbone Road in Sewickley Heights when the house exploded back in December. 

One of the contractors was taken to the hospital with severe burns. When the house exploded, debris was scattered all across the yard of the home. 

Rich Engler, a neighbor who lives a couple of houses away, told KDKA that the explosion shook his house and he found the man who was severely burned in the yard.

“I ran back to look at him and he was in total shock,” he said. “I couldn’t even believe somebody made it out of that explosion alive and I could see his hands were really burnt up.”  

The fire marshal is trying to find the origin and cause of the explosion with the help of the Pennsylvania Utility Commission and Equitable Gas.   

Six killed in Rustic Ridge explosion

A quiet Saturday morning in Plum Borough brought a community to its knees when a home in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood exploded, destroying numerous nearby homes and damaging dozens of others, leaving five adults and one child dead in the aftermath of the blast.   

Three nearby homes were destroyed and a dozen other homes were damaged in the blast.

Casey and Keegan Clontz, Heather and Paul Oravitz, Kevin Sebunia, and Michael Thomas all were killed in the explosion.

Multiple other people were critically injured and dozens of firefighters were treated for minor injuries. 

In the days following the blast, Allegheny County officials said the home where the explosion happened was having “hot water tank issues.” The tank was in the basement.

Allegheny County officials say that the investigation could take months or even years.