PLUM, Pa. --
A large explosion destroyed a house in the Holiday Park neighborhood of Plum on Wednesday, leaving a man dead, his 4-year-old granddaughter badly hurt and nearby homes covered with debris.
Richard Leith, 64, was pronounced dead not long after being flown to UPMC Mercy hospital.
Meanwhile, Gianna Pettinato is being treated for a broken leg and some minor burns at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Early responders to the scene in the 100 block of Mardi Gras Drive, near Havana Drive, said the young girl was blown out of the house in the blast around 1:30 p.m. (Google Map)
Firefighters had to extinguish a series of small, scattered fires on the ground near the home, which was reduced to pieces.
WTAE Channel 4 Action News talked with a woman who said she picked up the girl and held her until paramedics arrived. She said the child was alert but seemed to be in shock and was calling out her grandfather's name.
"Sitting amidst all this debris," said neighbor Lynn Celia. "Just sitting there with her eyes wide open like she was in a state of shock. And I scooped her up. She told me she was sitting on the couch. It blew her out of the wall."
"I ran outside to see what happened, and there was debris falling out of the sky," said neighbor Dave Heiser. "It was incredible."
Several people called Channel 4 Action News to say that the explosion could be heard and felt in nearby homes and offices.
One person e-mailed this note to thepittsburghchannel.com:
"I work in Holiday Park and everyone in the office felt and heard this big bang. We thought an overhead A/C unit blew up. We all went outside and after a couple of minutes all of this pink insulation and other debris comes floating through the air from a northeastern direction. After another couple of minutes, we see the plum of black smoke rising from over the next hill ridge."
Another e-mailer said, "We're probably a little over a mile away on Logans Ferry Road and it shook our house too."
And someone else e-mailed to say, "I live about 6 miles away, off Route 380, and I heard the explosion while I was inside my home. That is how loud it was."
In all, 15 neighboring homes sustained damage, but no other injuries were reported.
Wooden boards landed on the roof of one house after the blast. Other rubble was scattered throughout yards and in the street.
Some homes were evacuated, and those residents were sent to nearby Holiday Park Elementary School. The Red Cross was called to assist them.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation. A team from Dominion Peoples is checking the area for natural gas leaks but has found none.
Two or three of the 15 homes damaged may not be habitable after utilities are restored, Emergency Management Director Bob Full said.
Full said the National Transportation Safety Board is joining the investigation because they have responsibility for the nation's pipelines and because this was a fatality.
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