Attorneys and companies inspect site of Pottstown house explosion that killed 5 people

A group of experts for utility and appliance companies started a days-long inspection Monday of a house that exploded in Pottstown, one of the first inspections in months to try to figure out what caused the blast that killed five people, including four children.

In late May, the massive explosion killed Francine White, 67; Alana Wood, 13; Jeremiah White, 12; Nehemiah White, 10; and Tristan White, 8. Eugene White and Kristina Matuzsan were critically injured. An attorney for the family said Monday that the two were still dealing with “catastrophic” injuries.

The family lived in the home on the 400 block of Hale Street in the Montgomery County borough, which they had bought just a year prior to the explosion. The adjoining twin home was vacant.

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Several residents who lived near the explosion have been displaced for months, and have not received many updates on the cause or when they will be able to return to their homes.

On Monday, workers from companies such as Amerigas and Peco, along with attorneys for affected families, were prepared to clear debris for the first time since the explosion, an attorney said, and do a thorough investigation into what caused the huge blast that some neighbors described as sounding like a “bomb” went off.

“We’re here in an effort — in the most scientific way possible — to determine what happened in this tragedy,” said Michael Budner, one of the attorneys representing the family of those killed.

The Pottstown Borough secretary confirmed that attorneys for the impacted families were conducting a site inspection and cleanup, but declined to comment further on the investigation or to say if the borough had deployed any inspectors.

A spokesperson for Amerigas said the company is cooperating with the investigation. Peco confirmed they were on site Monday as part of the inspection.

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The inspection will go on through at least Wednesday, said Budner. There is no timeline for findings to be released, he said, with each company and agency releasing its own findings.

On Monday, experts were briefed on who would be clearing what debris and the safety protocols. Various equipment and an excavator were on site.

Some displaced residents, including Tandra Rambert, visited the blast site Monday and spoke about the frustrating lack of information from the borough. Rambert, who lived next door to the explosion, said she still deals with nightmares.

“It’s still difficult. The dreams, thinking about it. The PTSD. I don’t get on the elevators. I’ll take the stairs. If the phone goes off unexpectedly, I’m jumping,” she said.

Rambert said she had not received updates or information from Pottstown and is temporarily staying in Malvern. Rambert, who had lived in the house since 2008 with her adult son, was angry at what she sees as the “pure negligence” of Pottstown, citing neighborhood complaints of a gas smell for some time.

“The negligence of Pottstown,” she said. “This should have not happened. Because everyone has talked about the gas smell for years.”

Many in the area raised questions about the possibility of a gas leak. Multiple residents said that the neighborhood had frequently smelled of natural gas in the past and that they had sometimes called inspectors to the area. Peco, which serves the borough, previously said it had not received calls reporting a natural gas odor in the three days before the explosion.

The twin houses that were destroyed were not hooked up to natural gas through Peco, but there are natural-gas mains in the area, a Peco spokesperson previously said.

A propane tank seen at the site also caused speculation that it could have set off the blast. Propane distributor AmeriGas previously confirmed one of its tanks was at the home.

An AmeriGas tank was removed from the blast site Monday morning.

For Kenneth Cotton Jr., who lived two doors down from the explosion, the incident has upended his life. Since the explosion, Cotton has been separated from his 4-year-old son, who is living with the child’s mother and grandparents, and changed jobs because he could no longer do physically strenuous work due to shoulder and head injuries.

Like Rambert, Cotton said he had not received updates or information, though he had been allowed back to pick up some of his belongings. At one point, his child ran to his old room and didn’t want to leave. Telling his son that they couldn’t stay hurt, he said.

Cotton now lives with his parents up the block, which makes his daily walks painful, being just feet away from his own house.

Earlier this month, residents voiced their anger and asked questions at a meeting at a local YMCA but didn’t get answers, said Rambert.

“For the longest, nothing was really going on,” said Cotton. “I’m hoping I can get some type of relief or some type of peace out of this, knowing what happened. Knowing the situation that happened a few months ago and they still don’t have answers is kind of troublesome. Because a lot of people lost a lot of stuff that day. Lives.”