Families in Port Richmond are shaken up following explosion
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- An explosion in Philadelphia's Port Richmond section in the early hours of New Year's morning left three homes destroyed, more than 40 others damaged and injured five people.
One family impacted by the explosion has been living in their home for about two years, and they're pretty shaken up about it. The family said they never thought something like this would happen to them.
"I have no complaints, I'm alive," Frank Barrett, a Port Richmond resident, said. "It could have been much worse."
Barrett said he's lucky to be alive after waking up to a loud boom in his bed covered in insulation and drywall.
"When I first woke up, I was pretty much in shock and I had ringing in my ears and the insulation from the ceiling was all in my face, my eyes, my nose and mouth, ears -- everywhere," Barret said.
A suspected gas explosion flattened two homes, damaged dozens of others and injured five people in Port Richmond on New Year's Day.
"My neighbors to either side of me sustained all broken glass, but my glass didn't break except for my basement window," Barrett said.
From the ceiling in the bedroom, to broken glass in the kitchen, the impact of the blow even ripped a piece of his roof off.
"I've taken at least four showers and I can still feel it," Barret said. "It's itching my skin. My skin's irritated. I have a little discomfort in my chest from breathing it in and also from the impact of the piece from the ceiling."
Barrett said the mental impact of the explosion is taking a toll on him and his family.
"Last night, I heard fireworks at around 2 o'clock in the morning and it got me up out of bed," Barret said. "It just, it felt like it was happening all over again."
But Barrett said his ongoing flashbacks from the blast is a small price to pay in comparison to his neighbors around him.
"My heart goes out to these people," Barrett said. "I'm really sorry for them. their loss. They're alive, but they're homeless now."
