PGW worker killed, 5 other people injured in Tacony gas blast

An unidentified Philadelphia Gas Works employee was killed and five other people were injured last night after a gas main exploded in Tacony.

Four PGW workers were hospitalized, three of whom were in critical condition. The other injured PGW worker and a firefighter were in stable condition at Aria Health's Torresdale hospital, officials said.

"Part of the routine for the gas company is you get that phone call, but you don't know if one of those phone calls could be when something goes wrong," said Douglas Oliver, PGW's director of corporate communications.

Earlier in the evening, officials had evacuated nearly 40 people, including 24 from a senior-care home, as firefighters and utility workers tried to shut off a large gas leak from a broken main on Torresdale Avenue near Longshore.

The leak, along with a water-main break, was reported about 7:19 p.m., fire officials said. A hazmat situation was declared because the odor of gas could be detected for several blocks.

PGW crews shut off the gas supply in the area, and the Water Department was also on the scene to deal with the water-main break.

The 12-inch gas main exploded about an hour later as utility crews were working to repair it, officials said.

John Burke, who lives on Longshore Avenue, said "it sounded like a bomb going off."

Executive Fire Chief Daniel Williams said at least two homes and a PGW truck were set on fire by the explosion. The three-alarm blaze was brought under control about 11 p.m.