Littlestown, Pa. -An older woman's house, along Lexington Way, exploded around 11:00 Friday morning. She was at Zumba at the time.
A neighbor had smelled gas in the area. Columbia Gas was investigating and asked for the Littlestown Alpha Fire Department's assistance. Four members of the department entered the house to be sure no one was passed out inside. Chief Chris Morgret says they were checking the furnace area when something sparked and the home exploded.
"It still is kind of undetermined and we don't believe that we are going to be able to determine what the ignition source truly was," he said.
All four firefighters inside were injured. Two were released from the local hospital. Raymond Boyd, who has been with company for two years, and Jay Ingle, who has been with the company for five, were both flown to Bayview Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. They have burns on their hands and ears. Both are expected to be okay. It is another hard time for Boyd; his house burned down earlier this year.
This explosion is on top of an already hard two weeks for the fire department. They have dealt with three fatal fires, a plane crash, multiple car crashes and now this.
""This is obviously kind of the stray that broke the camel's back. I already talked to a gentleman that is a crisis guy. We are getting stuff set-up to have them available for the weekend and going forward if anybody needs to talk to them," said Morgret.
The State Police Fire Marshal is investigating the explosion. Columbia Gas spent the entire day fixing the line. No other homes were impacted, but the woman's home is seriously damaged. Her granddaughter saw the inside.
"Insulation is everywhere, there is pictures all over the ground there's glass shattered, furniture torn up. There's really nothing that resembles the home at all," said Alix Clise, the homeowner's granddaughter.
The homeowner will stay with family. The family says they are grateful for the fire department and looking at a way to pay it forward. They also say they are praying for the injured firefighters.