BALTIMORE – A natural gas explosion on Monday morning destroyed three rows of homes in Baltimore, killing a woman and trapping other people in the rubble. At least seven people were seriously injured, and firefighters were searching for more survivors.
Dozens of firefighters converted on the piles of rubble. A fourth house in a row was opened, and windows were smashed into nearby houses, leaving northwest Baltimore at Reisterstown Station strewn with glass and other debris.
‘It’s a disaster. It’s a mess. It’s unbelievable, ”said Diane Glover, who lives across the street. Her windows were collapsed and her front door was blown open. “I’m still shocked,” she said hours later.
Seven people were admitted to hospital while a woman on the scene was pronounced dead, the Baltimore City Fire Department said on its Twitter page. One person transported to the University of Maryland Medical Center is in critical condition, the Baltimore Sun reported. Rescuers struggled through the rubble, ready to work into the night.
“We are trying to make sure we get through each area to determine if there are any casualties,” Baltimore Fire Department spokesman Blair Adams told a news conference this afternoon.
Although the cause was not immediately clear, The Sun reported last year that dangerous gas leaks have become much more frequent, with nearly two dozen per day detected on average, according to utility reports to federal authorities. From Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. has thousands of miles of obsolete pipes that need to be replaced, an effort that would cost nearly $ 1 billion and take two decades, the newspaper said.
No gas odors were reported prior to this morning’s incident and BGE did not receive any recent calls of gas odor from the block of houses that were damaged, it said in a statement late Monday.
BGE said it was responding to the scene at the fire department’s request to shut down all gas and electrical services to make the scene safe. BGE has canvased the area and found no current readings of gas. A statement from the utility said it would conduct an investigation into its equipment in the area.
“Field inspections will cover homes and gas equipment in a wide area to ensure there is no additional damage,” the statement said. “In addition, BGE has checked records for this area, including all reported gas odors, recent inspection results and repairs.”
Glover, 56, and her 77-year-old father, Moses Glover, were at home when the massive explosion shook their home, by hitting a fan and a few of their DVDs.
‘I jumped up to see what happened. I looked out the bathroom window and there was a house on the floor, ‘she said. “It sounded like a bomb went off.”
Dean Jones, 36, who lives nearby, walked to the scene. He said he saw a pile of bricks, glass and cinder blocks – as well as a box of pancakes.
“You could tell this was a house that people lived in,” he said.
Jones said he and others began calling for survivors and found an elderly woman who was eventually pulled over by arsonists. Kevin Matthews, who lives on the block, told The Baltimore Sun that he could hear children being caught screaming, ‘Come get us! We are stuck! ”
Barry Leventhal, whose warehouse equipment company is located 46 meters from the blast area, said he was inside his warehouse when the explosion erupted and shook his building, damaging lights and a concrete wall.
Fortunately, not one of the company’s 10 employees was injured.
‘We thought a plane crashed like something. We could not figure it out, “said Leventhal, owner of Everything Warehouse.
BGE asked the Maryland Public Service Commission for a new gas system infrastructure and a cost recovery mechanism approved in late 2017 to pay for upgrades.
Founded in 1816, BGE is the oldest gas distribution company in the nation. Like many older gas systems, much of the gas infrastructure and services consist of cast iron and bare steel – materials that are outdated and prone to failure with age, “the PSC wrote in a 2018 order that modernization plan approved.
The gas infrastructure of this area was installed in the early 1960s. When spoofing pipes fail, they tend to headers. Last year, a gas explosion shattered the facade of a Maryland office complex in Columbia, killing more than 20 businesses. No one was injured in the blast early Sunday morning. In 2016, a gas outbreak forced the evacuation of the Baltimore County Circuit Courthouse. Under Armor Inc. had to evacuate its Baltimore office after a gas breach in 2012.
BGE said in a statement late Monday that its most recent inspection of the gas network and services in the area occurred in June and July of 2019 and did not identify any leaks.
Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott said he “needs the entire city of Baltimore at the moment to concentrate on hopeful prayers for those individuals affected by this.”
“I want everyone in town to really drive around those people who are still fighting for their lives,” he said at a news conference.
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Associated Press staff include Mike Kunzelman in Silver Spring, Brian Witte in Annapolis, and Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia.
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This story has been corrected to show that a quote about BGE is the “oldest gas distribution company in the nation” written by the Maryland Public Service Commission, not BGE.
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