Rodrigo Torrejón and Andrew Maykuth
The Philadelphia Inquirer
（MCT）
费城 - 大规模爆炸后几天毁灭了波特斯敦的两所房屋，杀死了四个孩子和一个成人，尚未释放原因，但Peco Energy说，没有发现证据表明其系统中的天然气造成了致命的爆炸。
PECO发言人Mayra H. Bergman表示，对爆炸的残留物进行化学分析并没有暗示PECO系统的天然气。Peco此前曾说过，据信爆炸发生的Hale Street上的占领房都没有与Peco的天然气主管相连的空置双胞胎房屋。
Powerful Pottstown (PA) Explosion Kills at Least Four
“Our investigation continues and to date we have not found evidence that Peco’s natural gas caused this incident,” said Bergman. The company declined to speculate on what might have caused the blast, deferring that question to investigators.
The probe into the explosion remains ongoing, with Pottstown’s licensing and inspections department and fire department surveying damage to the area Wednesday. Pottstown officials provided no updates on the investigation.
The statements from Peco follow days of speculation as to the cause and origin point of the explosion that destroyed the two homes and damaged at least six other houses. Peco crews have been working in the street around the blast site as part of the investigation, Bergman said, though the utility crews were no longer at the scene Wednesday.
A relatively unscathed propane tank seen at the site also caused speculation that it could have set off the blast.
Photographs of the residence before and after the explosion show what appears to be a 120-gallon vertical propane tank located outside the rear of the house. Customers usually get liquid propane delivered by truck from a dealer. Propane distributor AmeriGas confirmed one of its tanks was at the home, and said it was cooperating with the investigation. When propane is released from the pressurized tank, it becomes a flammable gas.
天然气主要由甲烷组成，甲烷在化学上与丙烷不同。测试可能能够检测到爆炸中涉及的材料。
邻居描述了晚上8点左右的轰动繁荣。星期四说，感觉好像炸弹已经熄灭了。爆炸炸毁了一个街区，并用绝缘材料覆盖了邻里。
弗朗辛·怀特（Francine White），67岁；阿拉纳·伍德（Alana Wood），13岁；耶利米·怀特（Jeremiah White），12岁；尼希米·怀特（Nehemiah White），10岁；波特斯敦警方说，现年8岁的特里斯坦·怀特（Tristan White）被杀。现年44岁的尤金·怀特（Eugene White）和现年32岁的克里斯蒂娜·马图桑（Kristina Matuzsan）受伤，病情危急。
On Friday, at least four neighbors — including former residents of the adjoining twin unit of the house that exploded — told The Inquirer that they had persistently smelled gas in the area as far back as 2007 and as recently as a few months ago. Neighbors said that they would call Peco about the smell, but workers would leave without detecting anything.
Peco said that under Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission regulations, the company is obligated to respond to all calls about gas leaks within an hour, and that the company complies 99.9% of the time. In the few instances where it does not respond in under an hour, it is required to report the lapse to the commission.
Peco provides natural gas service by underground gas mains to Pottstown. There is a dead-end Peco gas main stub in the neighborhood with no current customers, and neither side of the twin home was connected to Peco’s natural gas service, Bergman said.
Propane and fuel oil distributors often deliver fuel to customers, which is stored on site in tanks. The tanks may be owned by the energy companies and leased to the customers, or the tanks may be owned by the customer themselves.
Pottstown officials said their crews were conducting damage assessments on Wednesday to evaluate the structural integrity of homes near the explosion.
“We are concentrating on the immediate area surrounding the site. Once these properties have been inspected, the area will be expanded outward,” a statement from the borough read.
约旦·斯特罗科夫斯基（Jordan Strokovsky）是一名律师，代表爆炸附近的两所房屋的居民，他说，还有更多的调查要做：“我们的专家团队尚未有机会检查现场，这将是一项非常彻底的调查，对希望确保这样的事情再也不会发生。”
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