Plum house explosion on Rustic Ridge Drive: 1 dead – U.S

Update (August 13): A fifth person has died in Saturday’s home explosion. For the latest, see our updated story here. ORIGINAL STORY: A home explosion in Plum left four dead and one person still unaccounted for, local emergency officials said Saturday night. Watch Plum’s breaking news report in the video player above. The names of the dead have not yet been released. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.” Plum Police Detective James Little said, “Due to the weather and darkness and the safety of those involved, all activities related to this tragedy have been suspended for the evening.” The Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office will return to the scene Sunday morning. Three homes were destroyed and At least a dozen people were injured in the explosion, which was reported at 10:23 a.m. on Rustic Ridge Drive at Brookside Drive, Allegheny County spokeswoman Amy Downs said. Sky 4 flew over the scene of the explosion: click on the video below to see the damage.” Police and fire department first responders arrived at the scene and reported that people were trapped under the debris and that one house appeared to have exploded, and two others were engulfed in flames. Multiple other homes were damaged with windows blown out,” Downs said in a statement. Watch updates from local emergency officials in the video below. Video from news partners WTAE on TribLIVE showed heavy fire coming from one home. Water tankers were on the scene, as were several local firefighters. The department continued to respond. Allegheny County emergency management officials were also on the scene. Public Gas crews were on the scene, and a spokeswoman said gas was shut off to the affected area while the utility worked with emergency responders on the scene. Residents who need a place to go should call Renton Volunteer Fire. The department is being directed to 1996 Old Mine Rd. The moment the house exploded was caught on a doorbell camera: watch the video above. “I’ve been to six house explosions in Plum, and that’s the one,” said James Sims, chief of the Holiday Park Volunteer Fire Department and Plum’s emergency management coordinator. The worst I’ve seen in 47 or 48 years, the worst, just the amount of damage. Check out the full interview with Agun below. Neighbor Alexis Typansky said he was sleeping when the explosion occurred. “I heard this ‘boom.’ I was very scared,” she said. The explosion could even be heard at a local baseball game, as seen in the video posted below. This is a developing story. Stay with Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 for updates. Download the WTAE Mobile App to stay connected with breaking news.