Early video & fireground audio: House explosion & fire in Schenectady, NY.
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The gas leak and explosion happened yesterday afternoon on Avenue B. Besides destroying the single family home where the leak occurred fire had already extended to the Side D exposure and threatening the B exposure when firefighters arrived. In the audio below you will hear that the original call was dispatched as a natural gas leak. The initial report of the explosion came when the first unit arrived on the scene and reported fire and asked for a second-alarm.
A quiet Schenectady neighborhood was instantly blown into horror late Wednesday afternoon. A powerful natural gas explosion leveled one house and severely damaged two others on Avenue B on the city's north side.
As horrifying as it was, residents who experienced it say it was a miracle that no one got hurt.
A contractor, working on the duplex where he lived, had pierced a natural gas line while trying to ground an electrical wire.
Minutes later, there would be a massive explosion and fire that would level the home and damage two others along this dead-end street on the city's North Side.
Miraculously, there were no reports of injuries.
Schenectady Fire Chief Michael Della Rocco said, “By the time our crews arrived, the gas had ignited and subsequently exploded.”
“Our investigation has already begun. We’re working with the Department of General Services, also with the police department and our own investigative crews to find out what happened,” said Chief Della Rocco. “The results are typical of a gas explosion. The front, rear and both sides of the building being blown outward, and the debris field associated with that.”
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