'Heartwrenching': Rustic Ridge residents come to terms with 5 deaths in house explosion

Residents of Plum’s Rustic Ridge neighborhood milled about in their yards and driveways Sunday, trying to come to terms with what happened there the day before.

They watched as emergency and utility crews returned to the scene of a fatal house explosion, searching through debris from three homes destroyed by the blast and subsequent fires.

Five people are confirmed dead, including a child, but official identifications are not complete, Plum police Chief Lanny Conley said at a news conference Sunday.

Family members confirmed for the Tribune-Review that two of the victims are Casey Clontz, 38, and his son, Keegan, 12.

Official identification is expected to take some time as it will involve use of dental records and, potentially, DNA for formal identification, authorities said.

One person is hospitalized in critical condition. Two others were treated and released from hospitals, said Steve Imbarlina, deputy director of fire and emergency medical services for Allegheny County.

No further updates on the critical patient’s condition are expected because of privacy laws, he said.

As of Sunday afternoon, everyone was believed to have been accounted for, Allegheny County spokeswoman Amie Downs said.

Related:

• Remembering father and son who died in Plum explosion: Casey and Keegan Clontz 'loved by so many'
• 'A humbling responsibility': Rustic Ridge's Greg Renko leads neighbors through tragedy
• 'We're so lucky': Family forced from home after Plum explosion grateful to be alive
• Outpouring of support for victims of Plum house explosion
• Cause of Plum house explosion could take months or years to find, authorities say

Coming to terms with tragedy

“It just was heart wrenching, heart wrenching,” said Liz Thompson and she and her daughter, Natalie, sat on the porch of their Rustic Ridge home, reflecting on the previous day’s events.

Thompson, 58, said a friend of Natalie’s stopped by just after 10 a.m. to pick her up to go to Kennywood and drove around the circle to leave.

The Thompsons live 10 houses down from the home that exploded.

“I’m sure — and it upset me all day — they drove past that house five minutes before it blew up,” Liz said.

When Thompson went outside Saturday morning, the family who lived to the right of the house that exploded, Harrison and Kelly Smith, were in her yard with their son, Levi.

They told her they saw the house next to them go up in flames and just ran out of their house, which was destroyed by fire.

“I don’t know the people,” said Thompson, but I met the young couple and their faces — I’ll never forget.”

Jason Decheck stopped to survey his neighborhood on Sunday: the emergency vehicles, the damaged homes, the uncertainty that remains.

“This part hasn’t hit me yet,” he said. “I took a walk down there this morning before anyone was around. I just don’t know what to make of it.

“You’re numb right now. I didn’t know the families really well. I knew two of the families, people you wave to in your car. The one I knew through soccer. My kids played soccer.

“It’s just not going to be the same.”

He said it was encouraging to see the humanity from so many in the neighborhood.

“The one good thing — its hard to say there is a good thing — it’s nice to see there are good humans around who genuinely care, who drop everything to help.”

Asked whether thoughts of “is my house next” creeps into his mind, he reluctantly agreed.

“I think that’s always in the back of your mind,” he said. “I don’t plan on leaving. This is my home. … There’s a reason people want to live in this neighborhood. I think it’s the people.”

Under investigation

The cause of the blast remains under investigation and may not be known for months or years, authorities said Sunday. The Allegheny County Fire Marshal is leading the investigation, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said.

Authorities were encouraging people to stay away from the area unless they live there.

Imbarlina said the county fire marshal’s office is beginning its investigation of the cause and origin “in earnest.”

“Please understand that this will be a slow and long process as things need to be tested and there will be lots of forensic testing to be able to prove anything one way or another,” he said. “This investigation may last for months if not years. It’s a slow process.”

The blast rocked the quiet neighborhood of about 200 homes just before 10:30 a.m. Saturday, sending debris flying blocks away. In addition to the three homes destroyed, authorities said Saturday that another dozen homes sustained varying degrees of damage.

A tally of the total number of homes affected by the blast was not available Sunday, Plum council President Mike Doyle said.

“With an explosion like that, there’s bound to be other collateral damage,” he said. “I was walking away yesterday and I saw a Jeep with the back window blown out. It’s not just houses.”

The area was inundated Sunday with emergency crews from Allegheny County, Plum, Peoples Gas, the Allegheny County Fire Marshal’s Office, and a slew of firefighters.

Electric service to all but the most damaged homes was restored Sunday afternoon. Natural gas service remains off.

Michael Huwar, president of Peoples Gas, said its crews were on site by 10:50 a.m. Saturday and gas was turned off by 11:30 a.m. They immediately began checks in the area for leaks, including smell checks and testing for gas underground and in the air. They also verified consistent pressure at regulation stations, he said.

“At this point, we can share that our system was operating as designed,” Huwar said. “It’s still too soon to estimate when service will be restored.”

Huwar said the company will post information on its website and communicate directly with affected customers.

Construction crews worked throughout the night, boarding up windows and doors of homes damaged by the blast, according to residents who stayed in their homes despite having no electric or natural gas service.

Thunderstorms that swept through the region Saturday night forced search and rescue crews to stop operations until about 9 a.m. this morning.

Neighbors helping neighbors

Greg Michael, of the Rustic Ridge Homeowners Association, praised the efforts of neighbors and asked for patience in a message posted to the group’s Facebook page.

“What I saw yesterday, I’ll never forget. Everyone stepped up. From helping in the initial moments, searching for survivors, evacuating folks from homes and opening our homes for refuge. And it continued all day and night long.”

As Sunday went on, cars and vehicles full of clothes, food, snacks and more drove to 122 Rustic Ridge Drive to drop off those materials for those whose homes were destroyed. The homeowner, Chris Spudlich, said people can drop stuff off at his home or at 155 Rustic Ridge.

“When you’re here and you see your neighbors in need, you try to do the little things to help people,” Spudlich said. “That’s really what we’re trying to do … help all of our neighbors.”

Dana Wood, who also lives on Rustic Ridge, estimated about 9 to 11 homes will be demolished due to the explosion’s impact. She recommended people drop off gift cards to places like Walmart, Target or Amazon, because victims currently lack storage space.

The Rustic Ridge HOA will also be collecting monetary donations for the victims.

“It was a lot of moving pieces,” Wood said. “As soon as it happened, we all just started running and getting things together.”

The generosity extended outside of the Rustic Ridge subdivision, she said, as people in neighboring Plum communities like Holiday Park and Highlands pitched in to help.

“The whole community came together and said, what do you need, and really stepped up. It’s a great community,” Wood said.

The Plum School District announced that its crisis intervention team will be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Plum Senior High School’s library.

Fitzgerald pledged the county’s support and thanked those who came to help from outside Plum and outside the county.

“It shows what people in southwestern Pennsylvania do when there’s these type of incidents,” he said. “People come together.”

Doyle said the outpouring of support that Plum has received from across the state and nation has been overwhelming.

“Our hearts go out to all the victims. This is still going to be a pretty long haul,” he said. “I can’t be more proud of this community. I just wanted to make sure that our first responders, everybody that showed up, is thanked properly. They were just absolutely world class.”

Jimmy Stecik was getting things together for a trip to Niagara Falls Saturday morning when he heard the explosion.

“It was a little surreal,” Stecik, 52, said.

“There’s damage (to his home), but compared to everything else going on, it’s nothing,” he said.

He visited the explosion site Sunday morning to see what was going on. He complimented the support to the neighborhood from those in the community.

“To me, it’s second nature — if someone needs help, people help,” he said.

“Our prayers are with everybody down there,” he said.

Food, charging stations and other amenities remain available at the municipal complex on Old Mine Road, borough officials said.

At the municipal center, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts with Troop 111 were grilling hamburgers and hot dogs for residents and first responders on Sunday. The food came from an event that was canceled Saturday because of the stormy weather, said Jim Plutto, a committee chair with the troop.

Plutto said one of the troop’s families lives in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood.

“We mobilized as soon as we heard,” he said. “What can we do? Where can we help? That’s the basis of scouting.”

The borough announced that all events scheduled for Monday are canceled. Those include the Monday Market as well as a council meeting and public hearing scheduled for Monday night.