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Mar 7, 2008 12:43 pm US/Eastern
Clean-Up Continues In Plum After House Explosion
The NTSB has called a press conference this afternoon to talk about the investigation into the explosion
PLUM BORO (KDKA) ―
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Officials were on the scene again today in Plum Boro to survey the damage caused by a fatal house explosion on Wednesday.
KDKA
As the clean-up continues today across the Plum Boro neighborhood rocked earlier this week by a fatal house explosion, officials say they are looking at a broken gas line as the possible cause.
The National Transportation Safety Board has called a press conference at 2 p.m. to talk more about their investigation into Wednesday's explosion.
Back on Mardi Gras Drive, restoration crews were hard at work again today boarding up windows and helping to pick up the scattered pieces of damaged homes.
"This is the worst I've ever seen," said disaster restoration worker, Ronaldo Rondinelli. We had the front door, walls, windows, storm door, parts of the living room, bedroom, all the headers, the roof blew off onto this property – it was in the backyard and we brought it up onto the side. So it was pretty bad."
On Thursday, crews say they removed a section of pipe that supplied gas to the home, which exploded on Mardi Gras Drive Wednesday afternoon.
Officials say the pipe appears to have been previously damaged.
Investigators say they believe that natural gas may have caused the explosion, but the investigation continues into how and why it happened.
The blast killed 64-year-old Richard Leith. His granddaughter, Gianna Pettinato, 4, was injured. The house was leveled and several homes nearby were damaged.
Some residents who lived nearby returned to their homes on Thursday to pack up what belongings they could until they can return to stay.
Meanwhile, officials with Allegheny County 911 say crews were sent out to a Plum neighborhood this morning to check out reports of an odor of gas as a precaution.
Authorities say they checked out the odor along Nassau Drive, but no leak was discovered and no evacuations were necessary.
Stay with KDKA for the latest on this developing story.
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