Neighbors relive moments after Crescent Township house explosion kills 2
CRESCENT TOWNSHIP (KDKA) — The Crescent Township community is reeling after a massive house explosion killed two people on Tuesday.
The blast was first reported at 8:54 a.m. at a home on Riverview Road. It was felt in several communities up and down the Ohio River.
"I've been in that house," Blanche Heidengren said. "Such a beautiful home there in the woods. Just very, very shocking."
Investigators said a man and woman were inside the home when it exploded. They were later identified by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office as 87-year-old Helen Mitchell and 89-year-old David Mitchell Jr.
"I feel terrible," Heidengren said. "Our neighbors are gone. It's just so sad."
A woman who lives next door said she heard and felt the blast.
"The window blew threw. The glass is all over the place," she said.
John Bundy, the owner of a business nearby, rushed over to help after the blast.
"I saw this lady with all the windows of her house blown out," said Bundy of Premier Pan/USA Pan. "She came out, and she was holding a baby. She looked at us and said, 'My parents live there.'"
Heidengren knows that woman well.
"I just came to show my support," she said. "We've been praying, a group of us. She's Christian and her parents were Christians."
Joanna Haiko lives in the area and thought the explosion was an earthquake.
"There were things flying through the air all over the place," Haiko said. "I looked outside and there was a giant flame, and I could not see the house through there, which made me think it was gone."
State Rep. Valerie Gaydos surveyed the damage and said the violent blast sent debris into the Ohio River.
"In all my years, I have never seen a scene like this," she said. "Tremendously tragic."
Investigators say the home was serviced by a private well and not a public gas utility. The cause of the explosion is under investigation.
KDKA-TV looked at the state's oil and gas map and didn't see any kind of well listed for that address. One thing the state points out is that unlike gas from a utility company, natural gas from a private well may have little or no odor to alert users if there's a leak.
