TRUMBULL COUNTY
The chief says determining the cause of Tuesday's explosion could be a tedious process.
HOWLAND -- A natural gas leak sends the heavier-than-air substance into the air and can explode from something as simple as a static electric spark caused by walking on a carpet, a fire marshal says.
"A pilot light -- any spark can set off an explosion," said Robert Sharp, assistant chief with the Ohio State Fire Marshals Office. "It could be turning on a light switch."
Sharp spoke Wednesday from the scene of a cavernous hole where Randy Mansfield's house on Raccoon Drive S.E. stood until blown to bits around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Sharp was there to oversee his team of three investigators, who were hampered somewhat in their work by drizzling rain.
The apparent cause was a natural gas explosion. Dominion East Ohio Gas investigators were also at the scene.
Assessment
Township building officials were there to assess structural damage to surrounding homes.
Howland Fire Chief George Brown, also back at the explosion site Wednesday, said determining the cause could be a tedious process. He said investigators worked from the edge of the debris field back toward where the Mansfield house had been leveled.
He said one family was able to move back into their house Wednesday night after repairs had been made. Three families were displaced by the blast that rocked the neighborhood.
Sharp said he's seen a number of natural gas explosions during his career, first with the Youngstown Fire Department arson bureau, and now with the state fire marshals office. He recalled a recent one in Geneva-on-the-Lake and an especially horrific explosion eight to nine years ago on Youngstown's North Side.
He said gas explosions aren't rare.