Whitehall Township, PA – A propane explosion Tuesday morning in an apartment in Whitehall Township injured at least two people, according to authorities at the scene.
The building, which has an empty business space on the first floor and apartments upstairs, is in the 2600 block of Eberhart Road. A dispatcher listed the address as 2678 Eberhart. The road was closed between Seventh Street and Range Road.
An AmeriGas worker was relighting a heater when someone flipped a light switch, township fire Chief Robert Benner said. The ensuing spark created a “fireball flash,” Benner said.
“It blew up,” the chief said in simple terms.
The worker and a resident were taken to an area hospital, police and Benner said. It’s possible a third person was hurt as well, but Benner was uncertain.
There was no fire, he added, but there was fire damage. The apartment can’t be lived in, he said.
One of the building’s walls bulged out and a building inspector was called, police said.
A UGI Utilities Inc. truck was nearby so it stopped and helped officials measure propane in the area, Benner said, who added that unlike natural gas which rises, propane sinks.
The property is owned by Nidal Yacoub and Kara Eilie, according to Lehigh County property records. They list the 400 block of Pershing Avenue in Whitehall as their address.