Steven Henshaw
Reading Eagle, Pa.
(MCT)
Sep. 1—A fire that gutted a second-floor apartment in Reading on Tuesday afternoon, leaving three people injured including a woman who suffered serious burns, was preceded by a natural gas explosion, Reading Fire Marshal Jeremy Searfoss said Wednesday.
“基于我们所看到的一切，我们相信从建筑物泄漏中存在天然气的积累，”Searfoss在225 N.第10章St.的爆炸和火灾中说
While the ignition source is unknown, Searfoss said it could have been any number of electronic appliances in the second-floor rear apartment, where investigators located evidence of an explosion that blew out the wall to the south, leaving the entire building structurally unstable.
The only occupant of that apartment was asleep in her bedroom when the fire was reported about 2:45 p.m., Searfoss said. She awoke to find debris on top of her and fire all around her.
“It’s an absolute miracle that she managed to get out and was waiting for our guys,” the fire marshal said.
The woman was initially treated by Reading Fire Department medics before being transported to the burn center at Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown.
Searfoss表示，她遭遇了烧伤，双手，脚和背部。
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“She’s definitely lucky to be alive,” he said. “But she’s got a road to recovery ahead of her for sure.”
He didn’t provide her name, and information on her age wasn’t immediately available.
Searfoss said pressure from the accumulation of gas was evidenced by the blown-out Bilco doors to the basement that firefighters had to move from the steps as they made their initial entry into the first floor.
Firefighters also reported a strong odor of natural gas, which is actually the chemical that is added to natural gas to give it a rotten-egg smell.
正在访问，遭受非烧伤头和颈部伤害的一楼公寓的两名乘客，并被救护车船员拍摄到阅览室阅读医院以进行治疗。
Searfoss表示，调查人员认为气体来源是一种泄漏的管道，供应烹饪炉灶。他们不知道是否有缓慢或快速的积累;建筑物中没有人报告了天然气的气味。
The building has been condemned and might not be salvageable, Searfoss said.
The American Red Cross is assisting two of the three tenants of the three apartments with emergency housing and other needs.
Firefighters got control of the fire within 20 minutes.
Searfoss said it’s a credit to the aggressiveness of the city firefighters that the fire, which was in the middle of a row of dwellings, was contained to the one building. Because it started with an explosion, the fire grew rapidly before crews arrived and access was limited by debris next to the building.
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