Port Richmond explosion: Residents still searching for answers after meeting
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A community meeting was held in Port Richmond Wednesday night after an explosion rocked the neighborhood in the early hours of New Year's Day.
Local leaders say they don't have all the answers, but they want to be transparent and ensure residents feel safe in their homes after the explosion and support those who were impacted.
It was a packed house inside the Columbia Social Club in Port Richmond.
Concerned residents had a lot of questions after a New Year's Day explosion injured five people, leveled two homes and damaged dozens more near the 3500 block of Miller Street. A third home will likely be demolished.
Margaret Heim was there at the meeting. She called 911 after the explosion.
"I explained it to him," Heim said. "I said, 'We have an explosion.' I said, 'We have debris and there is stuff flying through the air.'"
"I never seen anything like it," Eilleen Dendall said.
Dendall said her daughter's home was damaged.
"Her bed completely covered in glass and two shreads were impounded in her wall above her headboard," Dendall said. "God bless she was able to get out of bed and they started screaming."
"After the back of my house exploded on me, I had to crawl to the rubble and get out and get my daughter," Tara Dendall said. "It's a total miracle and it's a total miracle that my daughter's here and as long as my daughters here, that's all that matters in my life."
"We are alive, they are alive. I am so grateful for that," Eilleen Dendall said.
Representatives from multiple city agencies were on hand, including the Fire Department, Office of Emergency Management and Gas and Water Departments. They say they know this will not be an easy road to recovery, but they will be available to help along the way.
People who were affected say they just want to get back to normal and make sure this doesn't happen again.
"That's why we are here to figure things out," Tara Dendall said. "Figure out why it happens and make it better, to make it like it was."
Investigators say they will be on scene for a few more days and are working to determine a cause and city agencies say they will continue to be available for recovery and cleanup efforts.
