A natural gas explosion leveled a house and injured 15 people, two critically, after a gas main break Tuesday near the New Jersey shore.
Seven
of the injured were gas company workers trying to locate the source of a
leak that filled the neighborhood with a strong gas smell. Two of them
were in critical condition at a hospital in Atlantic City.
Six
firefighters and two emergency medical service technicians also were
injured, sustaining concussion-like symptoms from the shock wave. Among
them was Stafford Township Fire Chief Jack Johnson, who was about 50
feet from the home when it blew up.
The cause of the 10:32 a.m. explosion had not been determined.
Houses
on either side of the one that exploded were badly damaged, as was a
partially built one across the street. Stafford Police Capt. Tom Dellane
said other homes located within several blocks of the the blast, which
he termed “a very large explosion,” suffered varying degrees of damage.
The
two most seriously injured gas company workers were taken to a trauma
center in Atlantic City, where one was listed in critical condition and
the other in critical but stable condition. Johnson said those workers
were about 20 feet from the house when the explosion occurred.
The
firefighters and EMS workers sustained concussion symptoms and
complained of problems hearing after the blast. All but one had been
treated at local hospitals and released by mid afternoon.
Dellane
said the home had been undergoing renovations but was unoccupied at the
time. The blast occurred about an hour and a half after police received
the first report of a strong gas smell in the area.
Emergency
crews and gas company personnel responded and began evacuating 75 to
100 nearby homes. About 300 homes remained without gas service
(Inputs from AP)