FEBRUARY 26, 2015
MCKEAN TOWNSHIP, ERIE, PA
Investigators said they suspect that a propane leak set off
an explosion and fire that leveled a residence in McKean Township on Thursday
morning.
A man, a woman and a teenager escaped without injury as their
large house at 3851 Hershey Road broke out in flames that illuminated the area
and created plumes of smoke that could be seen from Interstates 79 and 90.
The three-story house was fully involved in fire when the
first fire crews reached the scene after the blaze was first reported at 5:57
a.m. Thursday, said Jim Pyle, chief of the McKean Hose Co.
One of the occupants was getting in the shower and turned on
the hot water, and within 2 minutes the occupant heard an explosion, Pyle said.
The other two occupants were asleep and were awakened by the explosion, he
said.
The remote location of the house, which sits near the end of
a long access road and up a lengthy driveway, forced firefighters to use
numerous sections of 100-foot hose to get water to the scene. Pyle said tankers
trucked water from a hydrant at Bargain and Hershey roads to a retention pond
set up on Hershey Road at the access road's entrance. The water was sent down
1,400 feet of large hose line to the entrance of the house's driveway, where it
was then pumped to the hoses of firefighters who doused the flames.
Firefighters from eight volunteer departments worked in
single-digit temperatures. Some equipment froze up, and some vehicles got stuck
in the snow, Pyle said. Crews were rotated in and out of the fire scene, and
Kuhl Hose Co.'s rehab trailer was used to keep firefighters warm, he said.
"It's awesome. It's a great asset to all of the fire
departments," Pyle said.
Two firefighters suffered minor hand injuries but were not
taken to the hospital, he said.
Hershey Road was closed around the fire scene for most of
the morning. Firefighters remained at the scene until shortly after noon
Thursday.
Pyle said the cause of the fire is being listed as
undetermined for now. He said investigators, including a Pennsylvania State
Police fire marshal, were unable to dig around the fire scene Thursday
afternoon because it was still too hot.
"We're looking at the possibility that (the cause) was
some type of propane leak in the basement. Exactly where, we don't know,"
Pyle said.