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Explosion in Elderton mobile home injures two

Explosion in Elderton mobile home injures two

ELDERTON, Pa. -- It was still dark when Don Fleming, his nephew and a co-worker heard the explosion early yesterday.

Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette
Elderton Assistant Fire Chief Ron Kepple walks around debris from trailer explosion yesterday.
Click photo for larger image.

It was shortly before 6 a.m., and the three knew it had come from Boyer's Trailer Park on Route 422 in this Armstrong County community. They ran up the hill behind their construction business and found a mobile home leveled from the blast.

In the middle of the rubble they found a woman sitting on the floor. "She was in shock," Fleming said. "The fire was starting at her feet."

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As Fleming's nephew and another employee helped 36-year-old Ann Petras out, they asked her if anyone else was home. Petras said her daughter was still in the trailer. As the three men called out her name, they heard an answer from the ruins.

Aleesha Petras, 16, a student at Lenape Technical School in Ford City, was pinned under the debris. Brooks Fleming and Scott Meyer lifted a wall of the trailer and helped her out. Both mother and daughter were flown to Mercy Hospital. They were in critical condition last night.

Fire Chief Dave Plavi, of the Elderton District Volunteer Fire Company, said the explosion may have been caused by a propane gas leak. The state fire marshal's office is investigating.

The explosion also blew out several windows of nearby buildings, cracked the foundation on one business and buckled the walls of the neighboring trailer.

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The blast caused one initial fireball, and then the flames went down. When the first rescuers were on site, the fire was contained to just a 2-square-foot section. Don Fleming said it spread quickly to about a 10-square-foot area before firefighters got it under control.

It was the second such blast in two days in the district. On Thursday, an explosion leveled a home in Porter, Clarion County, seriously injuring a mother and her two young daughters.

First Published: October 9, 2004, 4:00 a.m.

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