TYRONE, Pa. (WJAC) — An early afternoon gas leak turned into a homeowner’s biggest nightmare.
Five people were injured, and one person was killed when a house exploded in Tyrone Monday.
The Blair County Coroner’s office confirmed late Monday that remains were recovered from one of the structures involved in the fire.
Officials say an autopsy has been scheduled to identify the remains and determine a cause of death.
Tyrone Councilman David Snyder posted on Facebook that he has personal connections with the victim’s family and grieves their loss.
Those along Pennsylvania Avenue were evacuated for the night.
"Right now, we have a gas leak with one house destroyed and two others involved," Neptune Fire Chief Alan Walls said Monday night.
White, billowing smoke coming from one home and damaging those nearby.
"We did a great knock down on the fire at first, until we were told to evacuate more because of the gas leak they weren't as you can see, we probably have over 120 firefighters here, all volunteers," said Walls.
First responders from four different counties responded, and hazmat crews from Altoona were also on scene.
Officials say, of the five people injured and transported to nearby hospitals, one was a People's Natural Gas employee who was originally called to the home for reports of a gas-like odor.
"He arrived on scene and found a gas leak and was calling for additional resources when it exploded," said Gary Watters with AMED ambulance.
An explosion that called for nearly 500 people to be evacuated from the surrounding area...
"This could have been a lot worse,” explained Blair County EMA director Mark Taylor. “We have to credit the residents a lot of them evacuated without any problems and that's what we need in these situations."
Tyrone Mayor Bill Latchford said power lines were still out in many areas, but those on Logan, Blair, and Bald Eagle avenues were able to return to their homes.
Pennsylvania Ave. residents are still evacuated.
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