Rude Awakening

VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- "I've lived here 43 years and never had any excitement -- until today," Charles Kumrow said as he described being blown out of bed when a neighbor's house exploded.
Kumrow's corner house at 917 Almira Ave. is just across from the rubble that was once 833 Franklin Ave. The explosion of the two-story house at 12:25 p.m. Monday sent shock waves through several nearby homes, shattering windows and raining debris.
Patrick Henry, the 30-year-old resident, and Jared and Sophia Baker, who had been walking in a nearby alley, were taken by helicopter to Pittsburgh hospitals, said Police Chief Tom Sansone. He said they suffered burns and possibly internal injuries.
A hospital spokeswoman said Henry was in critical condition and Jared Baker in fair condition Monday night at Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh.
A spokeswoman confirmed Sophia Baker was a patient at West Penn Burn Center, Pittsburgh, but the family has requested no information be released about her condition.
A fourth woman struck by debris was treated locally. Officials did not release her name.
Assistant Fire Chief Tom Bulisco said it wasn't immediately clear if natural gas caused the explosion. Columbia Gas Company and the fire marshal were on the scene.
Bulisco said the resident of the house that exploded was found in the yard amid the rubble.
Widespread damage
Police said roughly 20 houses in a three-block area were damaged, some severely.
"I was asleep, right up above, in a second-floor bedroom," Kumrow said, pointing upward as he stood in his debris-filled living room. "I went flying when the walls blew in and the ceiling came down."
To move to the kitchen, Kumrow gingerly stepped over broken glass. Windows in his living room and kitchen, which face the site of the explosion, had been blown inward by the concussion.
Kumrow, 67, said his wife, Jean, and 7-year-old grandson Kevin Taylor were downstairs when the explosion happened. Kevin had been watching TV in the living room.
"Neither of them had a scratch," said Kumrow, who was cut by flying glass. "My wife's all shook up, though."
Kumrow, a house parent who works with mentally challenged people, said he took off work. He was supposed to start at 2:30 p.m.
A section of roof from the blast site landed on the rear window of a 2006 Chrysler 300 parked outside Kumrow's house and sent glass flying into the street.
The car belongs to one of Kumrow's daughters.
Sansone said that, given the time of day and the fact that children had the day off school, "it's very remarkable there were no more injuries."
Next door
The house just to the west of Henry's took the brunt of the explosion, which ripped away its side and exposed both floors. The structure leaned at an awkward angle as it struggled to remain upright.
New Castle firefighters snaked hoses along Franklin Avenue and aimed water on the smoldering blast site from a ladder truck. Police used yellow tape to cordon off houses in the immediate area that were damaged and appeared unsafe to enter.
"It put me right out of my bed," said 21-year-old Mark Lewis, standing across from the explosion. "I live one block away on Marshall. When I jumped up I heard a neighbor lady behind me screaming because the windows blew out of her house."
The sound of the explosion drew crowds from surrounding East Side neighborhoods, curious to see what happened.
Shelby Williams, 15, who lives near Franklin Avenue, said she heard the explosion while visiting her brother on the South Side of New Castle. "We heard a boom and the whole house shook," she said, fiddling with a cell phone found in the debris.