Last updated on June 30, 7:30 a.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — One person was killed and two others were injured after an explosion leveled three row homes in the Nicetown section of North Philadelphia early Sunday morning.
It happened around 4:50 a.m. on the 1900 block of West Bristol Street. Neighbors like Carol Bass heard a loud boom, and she was rocked out of bed.
“What was that? Did something fall out of the sky?” she wondered.
Assistant Fire Chief Charles Walker said the blast collapsed three homes and forced the evacuation of the entire block. Two elderly women were taken to the hospital — one in critical condition, the other stable.
“It’s so crazy,” said Mocha, who lives at the end of the block. “I saw the lady with her hand in the air when they pulled her out from the rubble.”
A third woman, also elderly, was later found dead in the rubble by a search-and-rescue K-9. She has not been identified.
One of the injured women works for Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson’s office.
Broken glass, wooden planks, bricks, insulation, shredded metal and other debris — including household items like pillows, blankets and laundry baskets — are still strewn about the street.
Nearly a dozen homes were impacted, leaving them with shattered windows and structural damage.
“The dining room window is blown out,” said neighbor Michelle Nolan. “The kitchen window, back door, sink. The bathroom wall was cracked on the back. Everything. It just took out the back of the house.”
Saleema Lovelace owns the house right next to the three that collapsed. She wasn’t home at the time of the blast, but her uncle was.
“He was on the couch laying down, and then all of a sudden he heard a big boom,” she told NBC10. “His glasses flew off his face. The back door flew open, glass was breaking, and he just got up really fast. Everybody got out of the house.”
A shelter was set up at Edward T. Steel School but it closed soon after, as utility service was restored and most residents were able to return to their homes. The Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management said officials will return to the neighborhood Monday to continue assessing damage and residents’ needs.
Mageda Rasheed with the Nicetown Community Development Corporation called for urgent community support.
“All of these people have immediate needs: personal care items, clothing,” Rasheed said. “[Some] can’t go back into their spaces. They need everything.”
Mayor Cherelle Parker visited the injured victims and the neighborhood. In a statement, she said, “Every neighbor on Bristol Street and nearby [is] in our prayers.”
She said people seeking to help the victims can make a financial contribution to the One Philly Fund at philacityfund.org/onephilly.
Investigators are working to determine the cause of the explosion.