Lancaster City, PA – Firefighters are still on the scene of a gas explosion in an apartment on South Franklin Street in Lancaster City.
It happened in the first floor of a duplex just after 6 p.m.
A resident said she heard a loud noise in the basement, then the smell of natural gas. Five tenants in the apartment then evacuated the home.
When firefighters arrived, they noticed the gas line in the basement was damaged. The gas line then exploded.
“As they were trying to turn off the gas at the meter in the basement there was an explosion enough to blow out the covering of the front porch and knock the firefighters down to the ground as they walked out,” Lancaster City Fire Chief Jeffrey Oatman said.
Two firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor burns.
Two dogs were rescued from the fire.
Oatman said it appeared that the gas meter downstairs had been tampered with before the gas leak. A fire marshal is on the scene to investigate.
Oatman said the building will be condemned.