A joint investigation into the explosion that destroyed a Pleasant Street home in Berlin on April 14, causing a house fire and killing one woman and injuring her daughter has determined it was caused by propane gas leaking from a tank in the home’s basement.
Investigators with the Berlin Fire and Police Departments, State Fire Marshal Jon Davine’s office and Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.’s office said where the exact ignition source came from has not been determined, but it’s not considered suspicious, according to a statement from Davine’s office.
The explosion destabilized the 71 Pleasant St. home of Judith Christensen, 79. She died following the explosion, while her daughter Jill was injured after roofing fell on her. Neighbors Brian and Dylan Clemmer called upon Berlin police officer Molly Plante to help them lift a porch roof off of a woman they heard calling for help. Then a second explosion brought heavy fire and a live, sparking electrical wire under the rescuers’ feet.
Plante and neighbor Bobby Wheeler pulled Jill out before she was taken to Plante’s police cruiser just as another explosion further engulfed the house in flames. All were praised by Berlin Fire/EMS Chief Michael McQuillen and Police Chief Eric Schartner for their “heroic actions.”
The explosion also damaged three neighboring homes and two vehicles,” Davine’s office said. It took Berlin firefighters an hour and a half to knock down the flames. They received help from the fire departments of Bolton, Clinton, Harvard, Hopkinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Northborough, Shirley, Sterling and Stow.
Investigators found that the night before the explosion, “residents smelled propane in the back yard where two 100-pound liquid propane gas cylinders were located,” Davine’s office said. Residents then contacted the Knight Fuel Company about the leak, and an employee removed the tank 20 feet away from the home. The tank continued leaking gas and it traveled into the home’s basement “through the fieldstone foundation and basement walkout.”
The gas ignited at around 3:30 a.m., causing the explosion that led to the building’s total collapse. The collapse “made it impossible to determine the exact ignition source, but investigators found no evidence that it was suspicious in nature.”
Code compliance officers from the Department of Fire Services found that Knight Fuel Company had made several Massachusetts Comprehensive Fire Safety Code violations. This includes storing more than 42 pounds of propane without a permit, failing to notify the Berlin Fire Department of the leaking tank, filling and delivering out-of-date propane cylinders to the Pleasant Street home and failing to notify the property owner that the leaking cylinder was out of date, among other actions.
The Knight Fuel Company was issued a notice of violation during the course of the investigation. State Fire Marshal spokesperson Jake Wark told MassLive in July that initial findings in the investigation were pointing to a propane leak.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help Jill during her recovery. Set up by Andrea Clemmer, Jill underwent surgery on her jaw and for six weeks was “consuming a liquid diet consisting of smoothies and anything that can fit through a straw,” the page said.
The fundraiser received 673 donations, going well past its $60,000 goal and receiving $77,335 as of this writing.
MassLive has reached out to Brian Clemmer for an update on Jill’s recovery.
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