Man gets prison in Hindenburg-inspired house blast

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A suicidal man who got the idea to blow up his house after watching a TV show about the Hindenburg explosion will spend five to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to more than two dozen charges stemming from the blast.

Forty-eight-year-old Shawn Landa, of Moon Township, was sentenced immediately after pleading guilty to arson, criminal mischief and other crimes before an Allegheny County judge today.

Landa told investigators he broke a natural gas line to a basement fireplace, turned on a gas valve, and went upstairs to nap, expecting something in the house would eventually ignite the gas. When that didn’t happen, Landa woke up a few hours later and ignited the gas while lighting a cigarette, destroying his home on Oct. 12, 2013.

The blast damaged nine other nearby homes.