{"id":2003247,"date":"2023-08-17T01:09:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T05:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/homeowners-were-having-issues-with-hot-water-tank-before-deadly-blast-in-pennsylvania-officials-say\/"},"modified":"2023-08-17T01:12:10","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T05:12:10","slug":"homeowners-were-having-issues-with-hot-water-tank-before-deadly-blast-in-pennsylvania-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/homeowners-were-having-issues-with-hot-water-tank-before-deadly-blast-in-pennsylvania-officials-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Officials say homeowners in Pennsylvania were experiencing problems with their hot water tank prior to a fatal explosion."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhomeowners-were-having-issues-with-hot-water-tank-before-deadly-blast-in-pennsylvania-officials-say%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2003247&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<h2>Tragic Home Explosion in Plum, \u200bPennsylvania<\/h2>\n<p>PLUM, \u2062Pa.\u2014The owners \u2064of a \u2064home that exploded in western Pennsylvania last\u200c weekend were\u200c having issues with their\u2063 hot water tank, authorities said, but the cause of the blast that killed \u2062five people\u2014including two municipal officials\u2014remains \u200cunder investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The explosion in Plum destroyed\u2063 three structures and\u2062 damaged \u2064at least a dozen \u2062others. It occurred \u2063shortly before 10:30 a.m. Saturday\u2062 at\u2064 a home owned by Heather\u200c Oravitz, the town&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-rent-relief-program-expired-leaving-thousands-up-for-possible-eviction\/\" title=\"California Rent Relief Program Expired, Leaving Thousands Up For Possible Eviction\">community development director<\/a>,\u2063 and her husband. The town is about \u200d20 miles (32 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n<p>Plum Mayor Harry \u2064Schlegel said Ms. Oravitz, 51, and Plum Borough Manager Michael\u2063 Thomas, 57, were killed in the\u2062 blast, along \u2063with \u200dthree others who lived in\u2062 the \u2062neighborhood: Kevin Sebunia, 55; Casey Clontz, \u200b38; \u2064and\u2063 Clontz&#8217;s 12-year-old son, Keegan.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/world\/massive-blast-and-fire-in-russias-dagestan-region-leaves-dozens-dead-scores-injured-5466846\">Massive Blast\u2062 and \u2063Fire in\u200d Russia\u2019s Dagestan Region\u200c Leaves\u200d Dozens \u200cDead, Scores \u2062Injured<\/a><br \/>\n        <br \/>\n        <strong>Date: 8\/15\/2023<\/strong>\n      <\/li>\n<li>\n        <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/world\/45-injured-in-blast-at-optics-factory-northeast-of-moscow-5453809\">45 Injured in Blast at Optics Factory Northeast of Moscow<\/a><br \/>\n        <br \/>\n        <strong>Date: 8\/9\/2023<\/strong>\n      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Ms.\u200d Oravitz\u2019s \u2064husband, Paul, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/condition-of-actress-anne-heche-far-worse-than-previous-reports\/\" title=\"Condition Of Actress Anne Heche Far Worse Than Previous Reports\">suffered severe burns<\/a> \u200cover most of his body and remained hospitalized Tuesday in critical condition, Mr. Schlegel said. \u2063Two others injured in the blast\u2062 were\u200c treated at a hospital and released.<\/p>\n<p>Emergency responders said people were trapped under debris when they arrived at the\u200c scene. County spokesperson Amie\u2062 Downs said the \u200dblast leveled\u200c one house and two \u2062others were on fire. Fifty-seven firefighters were treated at the scene for minor issues,\u200c an\u200b Allegheny County official said.<\/p>\n<p>The cause of the explosion is under investigation by the Allegheny County \u200dfire\u200c marshal&#8217;s office, along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/president-trump-pledges-orderly-transition-of-power\/\" title=\"President Trump pledges orderly transition of power\">local law enforcement<\/a>, with officials warning that the\u200c process would be\u2062 careful and would take time.<\/p>\n<p>The fire \u200cmarshal&#8217;s office said in a statement Monday that it was aware of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/homeowners-were-having-issues-with-hot-water-tank-before-deadly-blast-in-pennsylvania-officials-say\/\" title=\"Officials say homeowners in Pennsylvania were experiencing problems with their hot water tank prior to a fatal explosion.\">reported \u2062hot water tank issues<\/a>. The agency planned to investigate the cause of the blast, \u200dwith the \u2064hot water tank issue in mind, and \u201calong with any and all other possibilities,\u201d the statement\u200c said.<\/p>\n<p>The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the \u200cdevelopment is \u200bon abandoned mine\u2064 land surrounded \u2064by shallow still-producing \u200cor abandoned oil \u2063and gas wells. Two producing gas wells \u2063are within about 1000 feet (305 meters) of the home that exploded and a pipeline runs behind the development, but none of those\u2064 structures have been identified as having been\u200d involved in the blast, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/opposition-builds-scores-of-british-lawmakers-across-political-spectrum-unite-against-vaccine-passports\/\" title=\"Opposition Builds: Scores Of British Lawmakers Across Political Spectrum Unite Against Vaccine Passports\">newspaper reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Huwar, \u2064president of Peoples Gas, said\u2063 official checks by the \u200bcompany indicated\u2062 that \u201cour \u2063system was operating as designed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The state Public Utility Commission \u200dsaid Tuesday that it has been \u200bmonitoring integrity tests of nearby lines by the utility\u2064 and interviewing utility employees, first responders, and<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The cause of a deadly home explosion in Plum, PA, that killed five people, including two officials, is still being investigated. Authorities revealed that the homeowners were experiencing problems with their hot water tank. The blast destroyed three buildings and caused damage to several others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":2003248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2003247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2003247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2003247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2003247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2003247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}