'Sad, dreadful feelings': Couple's death in house explosion rekindles memories, unanswered questions

Mar. 17—When Rick Napoleon heard about a fatal home explosion in Crescent last week, he was overcome by sadness and empathy.

The thoughts of destruction and death that he and his neighbors endured seven months ago in Plum's Rustic Ridge community came flooding back. His home was destroyed when his neighbor's house exploded Aug. 12, killing the couple who lived there and four of their neighbors.

"It's just that overwhelming feeling of dread," Napoleon said. "It just rekindled all those sad, dreadful feelings of what those poor people are going to go through."

He and his neighbors are still going through it — investigators still are poring over evidence in an effort to pinpoint a cause.

The explosion that decimated the Crescent home Tuesday isn't unique to this area — it happens across the country. Reports of homes exploding into unrecognizable debris come with shocking images and video, and are often accompanied by reports of deaths or injuries.

Two people were hurt March 8 in an apparent gas-related explosion at a home in Alabama. On Feb. 16, a firefighter was killed and more than a dozen other people were hurt in Virginia when a 500-pound underground propane tank was somehow ignited. One person was hurt Jan. 22 in Texas when a suspected natural gas explosion at a home was believed to have been ignited when a cigarette was lit.

That's on top of the home explosions in the Pittsburgh region in the past seven months — six people were killed Aug. 12 in Rustic Ridge, one person was hospitalized Dec. 12 after a cottage blast on a Sewickley Heights estate, and two people were killed Tuesday in Crescent.

The occupants of a Plum home that exploded April 22, 2022, survived.

Expert tips

It can be unsettling to residents in those communities and beyond to see the devastation wrought by an invisible danger. But there are steps they can take to protect themselves and their properties.

Experts offered a few tips:

—Install in-home detectors that notify residents of gas leaks, similar to smoke detectors.

"It's an inexpensive way to protect yourself," said Ron Natoli, a fire and explosion investigator who is based in the Pittsburgh area with Robson Forensic.

He has them in his garage and furnace room, and bought them for his children's homes.

"Most people, they really don't think about gas leaks until something like this happens," he said.

—Hire a professional when moving or replacing gas lines in a home.

—Have gas-powered appliances checked regularly.

—Have professionals check out any concern with a gas-powered appliance, even if it's minor.

"Don't put it off, because when they do fail, they do catastrophically," said Richard Meier, principal expert at Florida-based Meier Fire Investigation.

—If the rotten egg smell of gas is present inside a home or building, get out and call 911 and the gas company. Something as simple as flipping a light switch can act as an ignition source.

There's no reason for panic, though, said Peter Sunderland, professor in the department of fire protection engineering at the University of Maryland. Fuel and gas systems are fairly safe, but, like anything, they come with hazards, he said.

Investigations continue

The Sewickley Heights cottage explosion was deemed accidental, the result of a contractor working on a furnace and gas line, according to the Allegheny County Fire Marshal's Office. The other three in Plum and Crescent remain under investigation.

Authorities are looking at interior gas piping and appliances in both Plum cases.

Two explosions in McKeesport were deemed accidental. On Jan. 6, an employee was doing maintenance on a mobile hydrogen gas storage trailer. On Aug. 2, 2022, a contractor using a hydraulic jackhammer disrupted a gas line. The workers in both instances were hurt, authorities said.

Investigations can take years.

"It always takes longer than you think," Sunderland said, adding that fatalities can slow the process further.

The investigation is just getting underway in Crescent, where the log cabin home exploded shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday with a boom that reverberated for miles around the Ohio River community. Investigators said the explosion might be related to a gas well or propane storage tanks, both of which were privately owned.

Helen Mitchell, 87, and her husband, David L. Mitchell Jr., 89, died in the blast.

The explosion left debris in the grass around where the home once stood.

"This was not a little pinhole leak. This was huge," Sunderland said.

Despite that, evidence can remain. It just might be a little more difficult to find.

"In some cases, it's possible to determine where the gas leaked from, and sometimes it's not," Meier said. "It all depends on what evidence is left after the fact."

Private investigators can be hired by insurance companies or an affected family to do the same work as government fire marshals.

Prolonged process

In any type of home explosion, investigators will have to determine the source of the leak, whether inside or outside of the house, Meier said. They will look at gas piping, where utilities connected to the house, and gas-powered appliances. Natoli said they may do a grid-type search and examine the level of destruction to see if an origin can be narrowed down.

"In an investigation like that, a lot can be learned from the debris," he said.

Once authorities get into finer details that may be relevant — such as working through records of maintenance, repairs or installation of an appliance — it can prolong the investigation. That work can help them drill down to what went wrong, such as an equipment failure, defective product or improper maintenance or repair, Natoli said.

"The real question is how did the gas get into the home," Meier said.

Once there's enough gas, experts said, it doesn't take much to ignite it — petting a cat, walking across the carpet, flipping on a light switch. Propane has a lower explosive limit than natural gas.

Both gases are required by law to have an odor added — the rotten egg smell — to alert people to their presence because they have no natural scent. But there are caveats: It is not odorized from a natural gas well, and the odor can be reduced by being stored in a rusty tank or moving underground, experts said.

"For various reasons, people may not be able to smell it," Meier said, adding that age, gender, and allergies or a cold could be factors.

In a statement, Allegheny County Chief of Emergency Services and Fire Marshal Matt Brown said the investigative process can include interviews, images and video from drones, 3D scans and scene reconstruction, among other tools.

"The process is often long and involved as investigators review every possibility to ensure that they have as much information as they can before issuing any determination," he said.

There's no time frame for any of the remaining investigations to conclude.

Sunderland said that makes sense — they want to be careful and come to the right conclusion.

For the public, or those personally affected, the wait can be difficult.

Napoleon isn't expecting the cause of his neighbor's home explosion in Rustic Ridge to be revealed for another year or two.

"I honestly don't know if we'll ever be told the truth," he said. "I honestly feel it's going to come down to money — who can afford the best lawyers. I don't know if the truth will ever come out."

He's been living at a rental house in Murrysville while awaiting the rebuild of his home in Rustic Ridge. He's hopeful to be back in it this year, complete with new gas-powered appliances.

"They've checked every gas line in Rustic Ridge. They've checked the mines, everything," he said. "Every outside source has been checked so far, plus the gas meters. We're probably the safest area to live in because of the scrutiny the explosion has caused."

Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.