Oct. 13--An Allegheny County fire marshal and volunteer firefighters were in Moon this morning examining the rubble after a house explosion Saturday evening injured two people and damaged several houses.
Moon police said a house on Charlton Heights Road exploded at about 6:45 p.m. Saturday. The house at 1656 was leveled and a neighboring home at 1654 was blown in by the force of the explosion, according to police.
John Scott, chief of the Moon Township Volunteer Fire Department, said early this afternoon four homes were rendered uninhabitable by the explosion. As many as 14 others may have been damaged by debris, which hung in tree branches on the wooded suburban street and was blown into neighbors' yards more than 200 feet away in some cases.
Chief Scott said that investigators haven't determined the cause of the explosion. Columbia Gas was on the scene Saturday night and determined there was no problem in the gas line from the street to the house, he said.
"There's still some unanswered questions," Chief Scott said. "We're still doing our investigation."
Rachel Ford, a spokeswoman for Columbia Gas, said the company has found "no leaks or safety implications that would have caused this incident"
As part of the investigation, police this afternoon removed about a dozen large marijuana plants and some guns from a home at 1660 Charlton Heights Road, one of the homes declared uninhabitable.
Christian Laskey, 21, who lives about five houses down, was eating dinner on his front porch when the blast happened.
"My first thought was a plane crash," he said, because of the neighborhood's proximity to Pittsburgh International Airport. He and his father came out to the street and saw a "huge ball of fire."
As they came into view of the leveled home they "stood right there awestruck," before they heard cries for help from Alan Lisica, 61, who was trapped in his home under debris. Mr. Lisica was sitting at a desk at 1654 Charlton Heights Road when the explosion next door caved a wall in on him, neighbors said.
Mr. Laskey's mother, a nurse, helped the two men pull Mr. Lisica from his home and into the street.
"Unless we go to war or war is here, I'll never see another explosion like that," Mr. Laskey said.
The blast was so loud it was heard several miles away in Sewickley.
The first responding on-duty Moon police officer arrived to find neighbors digging 47-year-old Shawn Landa from beneath the rubble of his home at 1656 Charlton Heights Road. Mr. Landa was flown by medical helicopter to UPMC Mercy while Mr. Lisica was taken by ambulance to the same facility.
Police said their conditions are unknown.
Moon firefighters extinguished the fire that resulted from the explosion and evacuated neighboring homes.
This morning, Moon volunteer firefighters were using an aerial truck to get an overview of the scene. Allegheny County Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Don Brucker was at the site this morning, along with representatives of Columbia Gas.
Just after 10 a.m., investigators began using an excavator to remove charred wood and broken concrete blocks from the basement of the home where the blast originated.
Robert Zullo: [email protected] or 412-263-3909. Karen Kane: [email protected] or at 724-772-9180.
Copyright 2013 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
