No injuries, little secondary damage; authorities still investigating cause
By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times
Remains of the exploded house sit in a heap.
COATESVILLE – A house, located at 118 Penrose Lane, exploded around 11am Thursday morning. A press release from Coatesville Police Department’s Lt. James Audette said that the police and fire departments were able to confirm that the family was not home at the time, and there were no injuries.
The Coatesville Fire and Police Departments as well as PECO, the Chester County Fire Marshall, and State Police Fire Marshall showed up to the scene and are currently investigating the cause.
Audette also said that no visible damage was done to surrounding properties, but the city’s codes department will investigate further to confirm. However, a neighbor’s SUV was covered with debris from the house.
As of Thursday night, construction workers were demolishing what little of the house still stood.
City Fire and Police Departments as well as PECO, state, and county fire police arrived on scene to assess the damages and cause.
Neighbor Harry Anderson said that the explosion shook his residence. After hearing it, he came outside to investigate at which point another explosion occurred.
“When I rushed down the steps, I saw the guys out here working on the street, and they said, ‘What happened? Something blew up?’” he recounted. When I came across here [an adjacent parking lot], that’s when I saw all the smoke. But by the time I came up here, that’s when the second explosion went, and that’s when I saw the gas with the fire coming out.”
Anderson said that when he saw the flames, he rushed to help people evacuate from his own building.
City Codes Director Damalier Molina said that the codes department had no history of issues with the property.
