A gas leak caused a government building to explode and damage nearby homes Wednesday morning in Lancaster County, Pa.
The propane leak was reported around 5:45 a.m. at the administrative building of Rapho Township. About 10 minutes later, a storage facility on the same property exploded. Smoke from the ensuing fire could be seen for miles.
No injuries were reported in the incident.
The leak was discovered by a worker who went into the building and saw a heater had fallen out of the ceiling, according to WGAL. One worker smelled propane and they left the building without doing anything that may have caused a spark.
Rapho Township Supervisor Jere Swarr told the station that the ensuing blast looked like a bomb had been dropped on the area and likely caused millions of dollars in damage since the building housed dump trucks, snowplows and road maintenance equipment.
The township’s main office building was also damaged.
Debris flew hundreds of feet in different directions, damaging several nearby homes. Six homes were evacuated in the aftermath.
“It looks like it got an overhead hit from a bomb” Swarr told USA Today. “I’m told people felt or heard it about 6 or 7 miles away. We have absolutely no equipment left — not even a road sign. But we’ve had an outpouring of help from neighbors this morning.”
“Thankfully [the worker] didn’t turn that light switch on. We could have had six fatalities. Instead we have a hero.”
“Of all six employees, he never turns the lights on when he walks through the door, and he’s the only one of the six. It’s just a habit. Even if he hadn’t smelled the gas, he wouldn’t have turned the lights on,” Swarr said at a news conference Wednesday morning.
The fire at the building continued to burn hours after the blast and crews burned off excess propane around 11 a.m., according to WGAL.