The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Gas explosion destroys home

Two people hurt in Indiana blast caused by leak that seeped in from outside.

Man, 68, drowns at Caesar Creek Lake
Updated 25 min. ago
Water rescues prompt warning from health officials
11:42 p.m.
Beach Waterpark sued for failure to deliver
11:37 p.m.
Raleigh Trammell’s defense opens in felony trial
11:37 p.m.
UD to move satellite campus to Dublin
11:32 p.m.
> More headlines

By Tim Tresslar, Staff Writer 11:40 PM Wednesday, September 22, 2010

PERSHING, Ind. — An apparent natural gas explosion ripped through a home Tuesday, destroying the structure and injuring two people.

Natural gas leaking from an underground pipe outside 116 S. Milton St. seeped into the home’s basement, said Cambridge City Fire Chief David Shank. The gas gathered in the rafters of the basement before something ignited it and caused an explosion, Shank said.

The structure had no gas service and a gas meter had been removed from the homes years earlier, he said.

Natural-gas provider Vectren in a statement issued Wednesday confirmed that home had no gas service.

Shank said Tim Burgess, 51, and his wife, Paula, 42, were taken to Reid Hospital in Richmond where they were treated and released for burns.

The blast blew some of the walls from the foundation and led to the ceiling collapsing onto the first floor, Shank said. The Burgess’ 25-year-old son, Kevin, was lying on a couch in the first-floor living room when the explosion occurred, the fire chief said. A large-screen television and a toolbox, both of which stood taller than the couch, absorbed the impact of the ceiling’s collapse and protected the younger man from injury, Shank said.

The family’s six dogs also escaped unharmed, the fire chief said.

The blast left the house unusable and it likely will be razed, Shank said.

After the 6:30 p.m. explosion, Evansville, Ind.-based Vectren said it sent crews to the scene to repair a two-inch gas main located in the street.

The company also stated that it is reviewing phone records to see whether it received any reports of natural-gas odors in the area.

Share this article