Update (Fireground audio): As many as 6 missing in Allentown, Pennsylvania explosion. Thirty homes damaged or destroyed.
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The AP reports as many as six people missing after a suspected natural gas explosion destroyed eight homes at 13th Street and Liberty Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. At 5:30 AM Mayor Ed Pawlowski told reporters the number six may be a little high for fatalities. Another briefing is scheduled for 11:30 AM.
There are a number of people injured including a firefighter who was slightly hurt durting the operation. The initial explosion occurred at the home of an elderly couple at 544 North 13th Street. At least two homes were leveled by the blast with six others destroyed by fire. More than 20 other homes were damaged. Numerous utility poles were knocked down by the explosion that was heard over a large area.
Here’s more from LehighValleyLive.com:
More than 250 people have been taken from the neighborhood to Agricultural Hall, the mayor said. The Associated Press is reporting that number could be as high as 500 to 600. Channel 69 is reporting nearly 200 residents of the Gross Towers highrise have been allowed to return to their homes.
Fire and UGI officials worked through the night to shut off the gas and put out the fire, Pawlowski said. The mayor said “from what we can determine” natural gas caused the explosion.
The gas leak was under control by 4:30 a.m. and crews began returning residents to portions of the towers. The two houses on the southwest corner of 13th and Allen streets were destroyed and the remaining six houses on the block were a complete loss, Scheirer said.
Fires from underground gas lines joined the conflagration, emergency radio reports said. The blast broke nearby glass-enclosed porches and downed dozens of power lines, leaving about 150 area residents without power as of 2:30 a.m., according to PPL Electric Utilities.
In 1994, Gross Towers was at the epicenter of another huge explosion in Allentown. An excavation crew bent a natural gas line leading to the complex on May 23, 1994, while removing a buried heating oil tank. The company left the pipe uncovered and unsupported until damaging it again June 9.
That night, a gap in the gas line caused gas to flow into Gross Towers, triggering two explosions and a fire at the apartment building for the elderly. The accident killed one person and injured more than 60 others. The cause of Wednesday’s explosion is not yet known.
