Emergency responders reported people trapped under debris after one house apparently exploded and two others were engulfed in flames, county spokesperson Amie Downs said. At least a dozen other houses were damaged in some way, Plum police said. Steve Imbarlina, the assistant chief for Allegheny County emergency services, said that two of the injured people had been released from the hospital and a third was in critical condition on Sunday afternoon. Heather Oravitz, 51, community development director for the borough, lived in the house that exploded and was killed, the Plum Borough mayor confirms. Her husband, Paul Oravitz, was in the hospital in critical condition but later died from his injuries, sources tell Channel 11. Plum officials are notifying Rustic Ridge homeowners whose houses were substantially damaged by the house explosion there two weeks ago that they may be eligible for a significant reduction in their property assessment.
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That determination came after all potential outside factors such as wells, pipeline, ground gas propagation and other utilities were inspected and tested at several levels by each of the various agencies and companies investigating the explosion. A previous update provided by emergency officials on Saturday night can be seen below. Water tankers were at the scene, as many local fire departments continued to respond. Allegheny County Emergency Management officials were also at the scene. Zarroli and his wife first lived in another house in Rustic Ridge. The houses on either side — the Thomas house closer to Zarroli and the home of Harrison and Kelly Smith on the other side — also were destroyed.
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Fifty-seven firefighters were treated at the scene for minor issues. Fifty-seven firefighters were treated for "minor issues" at the scene and released, Steve Imbarlina, assistant chief of fire/emergency medical services at Allegheny County Emergency Service, told reporters Sunday afternoon. Lori and I are praying for the families affected by the house explosion in Plum today. ⁰⁰My Administration and @PEMAHQ are coordinating with and supporting county and local emergency responders. My Administration and @PEMAHQ are coordinating with and supporting county and local emergency responders. All day Tuesday, crews with Peoples Gas were out along Rustic Ridge Drive, with a blue tent set up and an excavator, digging in a yard roughly three houses down from the home that exploded.
Plum house explosion: What we know - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Plum house explosion: What we know.
Posted: Tue, 15 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
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The Allegheny County fire marshal’s office is leading the investigation, along with local law enforcement. Additionally, safety engineers have closely monitored the safe restoration of electric and natural gas service to undamaged homes in the neighborhood. Construction crews worked throughout the night, boarding up windows and doors of homes damaged by the blast, according to residents who stayed in their homes despite having no electric or natural gas service.
Plum house explosion: Drone video from the scene - WTAE Pittsburgh
Plum house explosion: Drone video from the scene.
Posted: Sat, 19 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
However, an unknown number of those may be able to be repaired and lived in again, as long as they are determined to be structurally safe. Since the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s office released the scene, it’s been cleaned up and sold, with a new house expected to be built there, said Greg Fischer, who lives across the street. A lot on Hialeah Drive in Plum’s Holiday Park neighborhood where a house exploded and burned in April 2022 is just a grassy space between two other homes today.
Officials were back at the scene Sunday morning, and a news conference was scheduled for noon, the Facebook post said. He said that gas and electrical services were shut off to most of the area Saturday "out of an abundance of caution" and that officials planned to work to restore some of the services. Two were stable when they were transported and were released, and the third was in critical condition, they said. Emergency medical workers treated 57 firefighters for minor issues while they responded to the explosion and fire, Chief Imbarlina said.
It is our collective responsibility to ensure the emotional well-being of our students and families as we navigate this unimaginable tragedy. In 2008, a house exploded along Mardi Gras Drive in Plum, killing a man and seriously injuring a 4-year-old girl. The National Transportation Safety Board investigated and discovered it was caused by a two-inch gas line that was damaged and then failed five years later after it corroded. The fire marshal is still investigating last year’s house explosion in Plum along Hialeah Drive. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s office has confirmed the house that exploded had hot water tank issues.
The accounts can be found at under the names of Danielle DiVittorio and Bryan Corbett. Killed in the Aug. 12 blast were borough manager Michael Thomas; borough Community development director Heather Oravitz and her husband, Paul, Kevin Sebunia and Casey and Keegan Clontz. While the exact cause of the blast has yet to be determined, "all findings to date that there are no factors external to the home that exploded that led to the explosion," the fire marshal's office said in a release. The initial update provided by emergency officials on Saturday afternoon can be seen below.
Electric service to all but the most damaged homes was restored Sunday afternoon. Two others were treated and released from hospitals, said Steve Imbarlina, deputy director of fire and emergency medical services for Allegheny County. The cause of the explosion is under investigation by the county fire marshal's office along with borough and county law enforcement. Imbarlina warned that the investigation would be a "slow and long process" that would include a lot of forensic testing and could last "months if not years." Upon arriving at the scene, authorities found people trapped under debris and reported that it appeared that one house had exploded while two others were "engulfed in fire," police said.
PLUM BOROUGH, Pa. — Six people are dead after an explosion on Rustic Ridge Drive in Plum Borough that destroyed three homes and damaged at least a dozen more. The Fire Marshal’s Office also encouraged homeowners to install combustible gas detectors and reminded residents that if they smell natural gas to not turn on appliances or light switches and exit the home and go to a safe area away from the house. People should call 911 and the gas company from outside the house, not reenter it and wait for first responders to arrive. Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Thursday he was ordering the state Department of Environmental Protection to open its own investigation into the Rustic Ridge explosion. Plum is home to several gas wells, a natural gas pipeline, abandoned mines and a long-burning underground mine fire.
Renko is the president of the Rustic Ridge homeowners association. He and the rest of the board — as well as a number of neighbors who live in the immediate vicinity and just outside of it within the subdivision — have taken the lead in trying to pull the community forward. Plutto said one of the troop’s families lives in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood.
Rogers said firefighters allowed him to go back in quickly and rescue his dog. Sims said tanker trucks hauled in water and pumper engines got the water to the fire scene via portable dunk tanks. There were 18 fire departments that responded, according to Plum police. Shortly after 8 p.m., Walker said Duquesne Light has conducted the necessary inspections and was waiting for approval from the building inspector, fire marshal and gas company to restore power to the affected customers. He and a neighbor, Renko, went to the house before the flames became out of control. They went around to the backyard and found a man lying in the yard.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation by Plum and county law enforcement agencies and the county fire marshal’s office. The state Public Utility Commission and local utilities also were at the scene. Additionally, safety engineers have been monitoring the restoration of electric service to homes in the area that were not directly impacted by the explosion – as well as the planning and safe restoration of natural gas service to residents. Of the three people taken to hospitals, two were released while one remained in critical condition, said Steve Imbarlina, deputy director of fire and emergency services for Allegheny County.
Peoples Natural Gas said Saturday night on its website that it shut off gas service to about 50 homes in the area as a precaution. First responders found people trapped under debris and two homes "engulfed in fire," in addition to one that appeared to have exploded and multiple others with the windows blown out, according to the post. The police responded to a report of a house explosion around 10 a.m. In Plum, a borough in Allegheny County in western Pennsylvania just east of Pittsburgh. In addition to those resources, the Plum Senior High School is open Monday and Tuesday, offering support services for students, staff, and community members.
Those in Plum might have encountered Heather as the director of community development for the borough. This little corner of Rustic Ridge was known, at least by some neighbors, as Fraternity Row, because these families spent so much time together. Plum Borough School District, the University of Pittsburgh MAPS program, Alliance of Therapy Dogs and others have offered services or assistance to those who are emotionally impacted by the tragedy. Renton Volunteer Fire Department served as the staging area for collecting relief items. Mountains of bottled water, food and snacks piled up at the fire department in the days after the explosion. The borough announced that all events scheduled for Monday are canceled.
One leak was along Kathy Lynn Drive and the other was at Crestview and Mower drives. The Regency Park and Rustic Ridge neighborhoods are about a 10-minute drive apart. To this point, there are holds on the three destroyed properties. This means nothing will be done to them, and any demolition would have to be approved by the borough. "In the meantime, we are bringing all of our resources to bear to help the Allegheny County fire marshal," Peoples Gas President Mike Huwar said.
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