SEATTLE (AP) -- A woman whose suburban home was destroyed by a natural gas explosion has died of burns from the blast, officials said.
Frances Schmitz, 68, managed to walk out of her home and was taken to Harborview Medical Center after the blast Sept. 2 but died over the weekend, officials in the King County medical examiner's office said Monday.
Schmitz, the sister of strip club magnate Frank Colacurcio Sr., had lived in the house in the Spirit Ridge area of Bellevue for 40 years. She was burned over half her body.
``It was a long and painful struggle, and now she's in a better place,'' said David Beninger, the family's lawyer.
Cause of the explosion remains under investigation, said Grant Ringel, a spokesman for Puget Sound Energy. He said officials have twice inspected the 2,600 homes in the neighborhood to check for potentially dangerous leaks.
Utility officials have said a makeshift plumbing system for a downstairs sink apparently helped to corrode the gas line, but beninger disputes that theory.
The blast at Schmitz's house occurred as utility workers were checking on a leak reported by neighbors. Since then a few leaks have been found but none appeared to be dangerous, Ringel said.
The company recently hired separate engineering firms to test the damaged three-quarter inch service line to the house and the tar coating around lines in the neighborhood.
