Two people died Tuesday morning after what emergency workers called "a very significant explosion" that destroyed a house in a rural area of Crescent Township.
Andrew Tomer, chief of the Crescent Township Volunteer Fire Department, said the explosion occurred around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at a house on Riverview Road. The house in the 1400 block of Riverview is located in a wooded area on a hill within sight of the department, which serves the suburban community northwest of Pittsburgh, and firefighters and nearby residents heard the blast, Tomer said.
"We all felt and heard the explosion ... Instantly, [we saw] a column of white smoke in the air, followed by a thick column of black smoke," he said, adding that residents elsewhere in Crescent and nearby Robinson and Moon townships, as well as communities across the Ohio River, also reported hearing or feeling the impact of the explosion.
Police, fire and emergency services were dispatched to the scene, Allegheny County dispatchers said. When they arrived, they encountered "complete devastation ... With the amount of damage, there wasn’t a lot of property to save," Tomer said.
Firefighters and emergency workers quickly searched for victims and found the bodies of a man and woman. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office identified them Tuesday night as David L. Mitchell Jr., 89, and Helen H. Mitchell, 87. At least two other homes in the area also were damaged, emergency workers said.
Aerial images from the scene showed smoking ruins with the structure reduced to a pile of rubble and some large pieces lodged in trees above.
A Columbia Gas representative told reporters that company crews responded but determined that the house involved was not served by Columbia Gas but rather by a private gas well on the property. Tomer said the private well and propane tanks at the house have been secured.
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal's office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the cause of the explosion.
(WESA contributed to this report.)
