Evan Brandt
The Mercury, Pottstown, Pa.
(TNS)
Mar. 21—POTTSTOWN — Two homes across Butler Avenue from the site of the May 26 explosion at 453 Hale St. burned to the ground early Tuesday morning.
No injuries were reported.
Fire crews were dispatched at 4:15 a.m. Tuesday and found one home on fire and the fire quickly spread to the other. Both structures had been damaged in the May 26 explosion last year.
Both buildings were vacant and were under renovation to repair damage from last May's explosion.
Pottstown Fire Chief Frank Hand, who could not be reached Tuesday afternoon, told WFMZ TV that the cause of the fire is believed to be accidental and is not related to last May's explosion.
Ten months later, the curtained fence still surrounds the site of the explosion and the cause of that blast is still a mystery to the people who live there.
Officials from the borough, PECO and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have all said the cause of the explosion may take a year to determine. It is two months until that milestone is reached.
The site of the blast has been partially cleaned-up, but rubble remains, as does a large hole where one of the twin homes once stood.
And now, as school children returned home Tuesday afternoon, they will walk past the site of two disasters surrounded by "temporary" fencing.
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