Lancaster County Building Explosion

On the morning of Wednesday, July 5, an explosion in a storage building in Lancaster County damaged over a dozen nearby residences. Authorities are currently looking into the event, USA Today reports.

Workers at the storage home believe the explosion was caused by a propane leak that happened when a heater in the facility fell out of the ceiling, despite the fact that the cause of the explosion has not yet been determined by authorities. The incident didn't result in any injuries.

The storage building that exploded in the event housed dump trucks, snow ploughs and equipment for maintaining roads, according to Jere Swarr, the supervisor of Rapho Township in Lancaster County. The cleanup work is still in progress. According to Local 21 News, the entire damage is expected to cost between $5 and $10 million.

Brad Wolf, the manager of Lancaster County 911, said that the first reports of a propane leak on Wednesday morning came in at 5:45.

Six employees of the storage facility entered the structure, and one of them detected what they claimed to be a propane odour. Before leaving, the employees turned off the gas valves in the building as a precaution.

Jere Swarr praised the worker's fast thinking for detecting the propane odour.

After the explosion, he claimed, "It appears that it was hit by a bomb dropped from above." I've been told that folks as far away as 6 or 7 miles felt or heard it. We are down to our last piece of equipment, not even a road sign. However, this morning, our neighbours generously offered their assistance. Thank goodness he didn't flick on the switch. We might have lost six people. 

According to Swarr, the Lancaster County explosion happened soon after the employees had left the facility. The crash was so large that it was audible from at least six kilometres away.

"It appears to have been hit by a bomb from above. (...) We are down to our last piece of equipment, not even a road sign. However, this morning, our neighbours generously offered their assistance, Swarr continued.

Swarr stated he was astounded at the absence of fatalities or serious injuries in the tragedy despite the significant damage. However, the explosion left many Lancaster County residents uneasy, and they were forced to leave their houses temporarily while the cleanup was being done.

There are still propane tankers on the property, according to Lori Shenk of the Rapho Township Emergency Management Agency. Shenk went on to say that onlookers shouldn't panic if they see flames because they will unavoidably appear throughout the cleanup procedure.

Lancaster County Building Explosion