Overview
- Staff reported a natural gas odor around 11 a.m. on Dec. 23, an Exelon technician found a leak at a basement meter-set valve by 11:50 a.m., a meter services technician arrived at about 1:20 p.m., and the building exploded around 2:15 p.m.
- Exelon emergency responders reached the site at about 2:42 p.m. and fully isolated gas flow around 3:50 p.m., with later bar-hole testing detecting subsurface gas outside the facility.
- Roughly 180 people were inside; three people ultimately died and about 20 were injured as a partial collapse prompted a six-hour search-and-rescue operation.
- The NTSB noted the responding foreman and meter technician had less than one year in their roles, and investigators recovered the indoor meter set and service-line sections for laboratory analysis.
- Multiple negligence lawsuits target PECO/Exelon and the facility’s operator, with filings highlighting alleged failures to evacuate and a facility history that included recent safety citations and a change in ownership weeks before the blast.