Deadly Pottstown house explosion was not caused by natural gas, state investigators say

Natural gas has been ruled out as the cause of a massive house explosion in Pottstown last May that killed five people, including four children, the state Public Utility Commission said Tuesday.

Investigators from the commission’s safety division have concluded an investigation and found “no evidence that public utility natural gas service contributed to that deadly event,” the regulatory agency said in a statement.

The May 26 explosion on the 400 block of Hale Street killed Francine White, 67; Alana Wood, 13; Jeremiah White, 12; Nehemiah White, 10; and Tristan White, 8. Two others were critically injured and neighboring residents were displaced for months.

» READ MORE: Four people dead and two unaccounted for in Pottstown home explosion

The state agency’s conclusion echoes a determination last year by Peco that there was no evidence that natural gas from its system caused the fatal blast.

“The home that was destroyed was not being provided with natural gas service by [Peco],” the PUC said Tuesday.

“Individual propane service, which is outside the jurisdiction of the PUC, was observed in the rear of the building,” the agency said.

The propane distributor AmeriGas confirmed last year that one of its propane tanks was at the home, and an AmeriGas tank was removed from the blast site in September.

The PUC said that several gas-detection devices using different technologies were used at the site on the day of the explosion and several days afterward. The natural gas main was located near the sidewalk on Hale Street.

Natural gas leaks were identified on Hale Street during the investigation, but gas migration patterns were not found to continue to the foundation wall of the house, the PUC said.

Investigators also found “low level ‘nonstandard’ methane readings,” but the findings were “inconclusive” and unlikely to have been a contributing factor in the explosion, the agency said.

Any further investigation would be focused on the interior of the home, and that is outside the PUC’s jurisdiction, the agency said. The borough manager of Pottstown could not be reached for immediate comment about any other pending investigations.

The family that lived in the home had bought it just a year prior to the explosion. The adjoining twin home was vacant.

Residents in the neighborhood said they had complained about frequently smelling gas in the area. Peco said it had not received calls reporting a natural gas odor in the three days before the explosion.