Neighbors In Condemned Homes Recall House Explosion In Lancaster County

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/CNN) -- An explosion left one UGI employee dead, two UGI employees and a Pennsylvania One employee injured, and a Lancaster County neighborhood in shock.

Four homes are now condemned next to what remains of a house in that neighborhood on the 200 block of Springdale Lane in Manor Township.

One of those neighbors, Roberto Gutierrez, who lives next door, said his son was home during the explosion.

"My bedroom is on the far side. I have no roof. The wall outside is completely gone," Gutierrez said. "Where my son was sitting, all the windows exploded on him."

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Gutierrez said his son was inside and was told not to evacuate.

"Frustrated and sad at the same time. You know someone did lose their life," he said. "We've worked with some of these UGI guys before and it is a sad situation."

His son fled the house after the explosion, carrying the family dog.

Other neighbors, like Katherine Sahd, who lived in the now-condemned cul-de-sac, said they were lucky they weren't home at the time of the explosion.

"We didn't get the worst of it," Katherine said. "It's just a lot of windows, insulation from the attic, the door blew in and just a lot of debris from the house."

Those homeowners were able to get their animals out and insurance companies were looking at the homes.

But the people who live in those condemned houses are not able to go back into their homes until a structural engineer inspects them.

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"This is a disaster zone," said Dan Sahd. "It just looks like a mini bomb kind of."

"I know that there was something there," Katherine said. "Twenty-four hours ago it was up and there was no problem."

Neighbors said their hearts go out to the UGI employee who was killed by the explosion and the ones who were injured.

"They know we're lucky and in a way." Dan said. "It's a great lesson for them to see what matters at the end of the day and what doesn't matter."

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