5 Killed In Allentown House Explosion, Victims Identified
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Five people were killed when a powerful explosion rocked a Lehigh County neighborhood late Wednesday evening.
The explosion happened at about 10:45 p.m. in the 500 block of N. 13th Street in Allentown and shook houses in every direction. Frank Spaits said it felt so close, he worried his own home had been hit.
"We ran down thinking someone hit the front of our house," said Spaits, "but we didn't see anything outside."
But never could he and his wife, Sue, imagine the blast had destroyed their friend's house instead. Friends and neighbors identified two of the five victims as Bill and Beatrice Hall, an elderly couple in their 70′s that had lived on the block for decades.
"Everybody knew her. She was all over the place," Spaits said. "This is a rough time."
Friends of the victims say they were active in their church and always out on their street, willing to talk to anyone who stopped by. The memory of Beatrice still brings smiles to those who knew her.
"She was a very pleasant woman in the neighborhood," said Crystal Greene, whose friend lives next to the Hall family. "She is a beautiful woman."
Eyewitness News has learned the three other victims are the family of Manuel Cruz, the Hall's neighbors. Cruz was working in Long Island when he got the call that his mother, 69, his daughter, 16, and his 4-month-old grandson had died in the explosion.
The loss of five members of the community is a shock to a neighborhood that is coming together in mourning.
Valerie Levesque reports ...
Eight homes were destroyed and up to 47 properties total, including 10 businesses, sustained varying degrees of damage. The fire burned for several hours and was placed under control early Thursday morning.
"We saw it jump from the second to the third house, the third to the fourth house. Me and my wife started looking at each other like I can't believe this is going on," said Antonio Arroyo, one fire victim. "To be honest, I thought we were under attack," said Arroyo.
Fire Chief Robert Scheirer says the weather hindered their firefighting efforts.
"Because of the weather, because of the snow piles, the ice, as soon as we threw water, everything turned to ice," said Scheirer. "It was a very difficult battle."
In all, approximately 350 people were evacuated, including 165 elderly residents of a nearby high rise who have since returned to their homes. Authorities said about 30 people will be displaced for at least Thursday night.
The city of Allentown and the Fire Marshal have determined that due to the force of the explosion and heavy water damage on the explosion side of the street 10 homes have been condemned. Residents of the homes located across the street should be allowed back in their homes by Friday afternoon
Although initial reports indicated the explosion was caused by natural gas, authorities say it remains under investigation. (click here to see shocking photos from the scene)
The is the second deadly explosion to rock the Philadelphia region in as many months. In January, a gas main explosion in Philadelphia killed a PGW worker and left five others injured.
Reported by Oren Liebermann, CBS 3
