PLUM, Pa. — One person is dead, another critically injured and several people are unaccounted for following a house explosion in western Pennsylvania that destroyed three structures and damaged at least a dozen others, authorities said.
County spokesperson Amie Downs said emergency responders reported people trapped under debris after one house apparently exploded and two others were engulfed in flames. Crews from at least 18 fire departments were working to douse the flames with the help of water tankers from Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation. Plum and county law enforcement, as well as the county fire marshal’s office, are investigating, and the state public utilities commission and local utilities were also at the scene.that he and a neighbor went to the home before the fire got out of control, where they found a man laying in the backyard and dragged him away from the scene.that the explosion broke the windows in his house and knocked him and his wife to the ground.