PSP: Woman dead, man injured after house explosion

UPDATE: According to Lehigh County Coroner Daniel Buglio, 91-year-old Leon W. Gruss died around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday at the hospital.

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A 75-year-old woman is dead and a man was flown to the hospital in critical condition after a house explosion Tuesday afternoon in Lackawanna County.

Debris and destruction are what’s left of this home on Mount Cobb Road in Jefferson Township.

Neighbors recalled where they were, as the deadly house explosion rocked their quiet community.

“We were in the living room playing video games and talking to my friends and then we heard a big boom,” said neighbor Alyssa Beavers.

“The house shook and the power went out,” Alexis Beavers added.

The two say they’re shaken up and shocked by what happened.

“I can’t believe something like this happened because it’s tragic,” Alexis continued.

“It’s difficult to kind of process this whole thing,” Alyssa said.

It took crews from across the area four hours to stop the smoke and reopen the roadway.

Jefferson Township was commanding the scene and says it was a strong showing of teamwork across companies.

“We had people, companies as far as Gouldsboro, Chinchilla, Archbald was here so when there’s a fire and we need help you call it from your surrounding communities,” said Jefferson Township Fire Company Assistant Chief Jason Crambo.

According to a Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshall, a propane leak from an unknown source within the house caused the explosion.

The fire marshall says it’s unclear what ignited the propane at this time.

Authorities will return to the scene Wednesday to continue to investigate.

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