5 dead, including 1 child, in Pennsylvania house explosion; search for bodies ends

Five people have died and one person remains in critical condition after a house explosion in Plum Borough, which is around 30 minutes outside of Pittsburgh.In a news conference Sunday, Plum Chief of Police Lanny Conley said the Allegheny County medical examiner had determined four adults and one adolescent child died from the explosion.Sky 4 flies over the explosion scene: Check out the video above to see the damage.Officials have not yet released the names and ages of those victims. A family member tells sister station WTAE that two of the victims were father and son, Casey and Keegan Clontz.Assistant Chief of Allegheny County Emergency Services Steve Imbarlina said two people have been released from the hospital, while one remains at the hospital in critical condition. Fifty-seven firefighters were treated on scene for minor issues, including heat-related injuries, Imbarlina said. Officials said the effort to resume utility operations to the borough was underway, though electricity coverage for houses neighboring the explosion site would remain without power.Mike Huwar, president of Peoples Gas, said gas service was shut off to the Rustic Ridge neighborhood by 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Gas crews checked for gas leakages following the explosion and determined the gas system had been “operating as designed.” Huwar said no timeline had been established for returning gas services to the area.Moment of house explosion captured on doorbell camera: Watch the video above.Expressing his condolences, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said this was “certainly a sad, sad day and a sad, sad time” for the community. He praised the support for Plum from surrounding communities: “It just shows what people in southwestern Pennsylvania do when there’s these types of incidents.”Imbarlina said the investigation into the cause and manner of the explosion would now begin in earnest. Due to the time it would take to conduct forensic and other testing, he estimated the investigation could last “months, if not years.”In a tweet on X, the social media platform formerly known at Twitter, Gov. Josh Shapiro issued a statement: “Lori and I are praying for family, friends, and neighbors who lost someone in Plum yesterday, and we’re grateful for the first responders who ran towards danger to save lives.”The five Pennsylvanians who passed and their families are in our thoughts today. May their memories be…”The explosion happened around 10:23 a.m. on Saturday. Three homes are gone, two of them caught in the ensuing blaze, with a dozen or so others damaged in this neighborhood. The houses still standing had windows blown out and doors blown open.The township, the fire marshal and Allegheny County emergency management were all present Sunday.Some neighbors were out Sunday morning, and others were returning to their homes. Many in this immediate area didn’t stay here overnight. Gas and electricity had been shut off. One man we spoke with says he rushed home when he heard the news. We spoke with him as he approached the site for the first time Sunday morning.”I still can’t believe it,” Jason Decheck said. “You see this stuff, and when it’s this close, you don’t even know what to think. These are your neighbors … you may not know them all, but this is a really tight community.” Plum announced Sunday that it would be canceling community events planned for Monday, including the borough council meeting, public hearing and Monday Market, in light of the fatal explosion. The borough said it would be providing several amenities at the Plum Borough Municipal Center. These included:Drinks, snacks and fruitA charging station for devicesFamily-friendly moviesChildren’s activitiesShower facilities Around 4:30 p.m., Allegheny County officials tweeted out to say electricity had been restored to the neighborhood except for the area immediately surrounding the blast.Neighbor Alexis Typanski said she was sleeping when the blast happened.”I heard this ‘boom.’ It was so loud that it woke me up. I thought it was thunder from the storms last night. My water bottle fell on me instantaneously. I was shaking. It scared me so bad,” she said.