Investigation finds no evidence 2022 Plum house explosion was caused by public utility equipment

PLUM, Pa. (KDKA) -- An investigation of an explosion in Plum last year that injured five people, destroyed a house and damaged several others found no evidence that it was caused by public utility equipment, a state agency announced on Tuesday.

On April 23, 2022, the Public Utility Commission said its Safety Division, which is part of the independent Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement, sent pipeline safety engineers to investigate a house explosion on Hialeah Drive. 

While the initial firefighting and recovery efforts were underway, the PUC said investigators began gathering preliminary information from residents, responders and utilities. After that, the PUC said safety engineers began a more detailed investigation at the site, working with other agencies that responded. 

The PUC said pipeline safety engineers tested Peoples Natural Gas service lines, meters and regulators along with the odor levels in the natural gas distribution system. They also monitored leak survey bar holes and directed Peoples Natural Gas to keep performing leak surveys for several days after the explosion. 

The PUC said the Safety Division didn't find any evidence that public utility equipment caused the explosion and no indications of natural gas migrating through the soil and around the site. 

Any further review centers around the inside of the house, which the PUC said is outside of the scope of its jurisdiction and will have to be investigated by other agencies. 

The PUC said the Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement is limited by regulation and doesn't have jurisdiction to investigate anything beyond the outlet of a service meter within a structure.

The explosion on Hialeah Drive was Plum's third house explosion in the past 15 years. The most recent one in the Rustic Ridge neighborhood killed six people. The investigation into the cause of that explosion could take months or even years, officials said. And in 2008, a house exploded on Mardi Gras Drive, killing a man.