SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — Officials had already evacuated part of the entertainment district in one of New England's biggest cities because of a gas leak and odor report before a natural gas explosion
leveled a strip club and heavily damaged a dozen other buildings,
including a day care. Eighteen people were injured, many of them first
responders.
Investigators were
trying to figure out what caused the Friday evening blast that could be
heard for miles, left a large hole in the ground where the multistory
brick building housing Scores Gentleman's Club once stood and debris
scattered over several blocks.
Teams of inspectors were scheduled to assess the level of damage to other buildings in downtown Springfield on Saturday. Some controlled demolition was expected.
Firefighters, police officers and gas company
workers were in the area filled with commercial properties and
residences after responding to a gas leak and odor reported about an
hour before the explosion.
"It
really is a miracle and it's an example of our public safety officials,
each and every day, putting themselves in harm's way, taking what could
have been considered a very routine call of an odor of gas, but they
took the proper precautions," State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said. "And
thanks to God that they did."
Officials
also marveled how the 5:30 p.m. blast occurred when a day care center
next door was closed. The center's building was heavily damaged.
"This is a miracle on Worthington Street that no one was killed," Lt. Gov. Tim Murray said at a news conference. Murray and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno
were attending a tree-lighting ceremony when the explosion occurred.
Sarno said some people mistakenly thought the boom was part of the
holiday event.
The explosion
blew out windows in a three-block radius, leaving at least three
buildings irreparably damaged and causing emergency workers to evacuate a
six-story apartment building that was buckling, police said. Pieces of
broken glass littered streets and sidewalks. It was unclear how many
residents had been evacuated. A shelter was set up at a school.
Coan
said his office has begun an investigation into the cause of the blast,
as well as the possible origin. The state's Department of Public
Utilities was also investigating.
Sheila Doiron, a spokeswoman for
Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, said the company will continue to
monitor for any potential leaks within several blocks of the blast site.
She said the company had already scanned the area and had not yet found
any measurable readings.
Doiron
said the company scanned its records and did not find any gas odor
calls to the area where the strip club was located. She said the company
does not yet know the source of the leak.
The
victims were taken to two hospitals in the city. None of their injuries
was considered life-threatening, officials said. Those injured were
nine firefighters, two police officers, four Columbia Gas workers, two
civilians and another city employee.
Springfield,
which is 90 miles west of Boston and has about 150,000 residents, is
the largest city in western Massachusetts. It's known as the home of the
Basketball Hall of Fame, which is not in the vicinity of the blast.
The city has been rebuilding from damage it sustained in a June 2011 tornado.
On
Friday night, residents milled around the neighborhood where the
explosion occurred, stunned by the destruction and confused by the
cordoned-off area, which grew as crews continued to search for gas
leaks. The mayor warned against looting, saying police would be out in
force.
Wayne Davis, who lives about a block away from the destroyed building, said he felt his apartment shake.
"I was laying down in bed, and I started feeling the building shaking and creaking," he said.
The
Navy veteran said the boom from the explosion was louder than anything
he'd ever heard, including the sound of a jet landing on an aircraft
carrier.
The blast was so loud
it was heard in several neighboring communities. Video from WWLP-TV
showed the moment of the explosion, with smoke billowing into the air
above the neighborhood.
___
Associated Press writers Bridget Murphy and Bob Salsberg in Boston contributed to this report.
