'Shock wave': Gas blast levels N.J. house, injures 15

WEST CREEK, N.J. - A natural gas explosion leveled a house, injuring 15 people, two critically, Tuesday as utility workers tried to locate the source of a gas leak in Stafford Township, Ocean County.

No one was in the house at 59 Oak Ave. or any nearby houses. Minutes before the 10:32 a.m. blast, officials had evacuated about 75 residents after a strong odor of natural gas was reported.

The blast felt "like a bomb," one witness said. The explosion's cause, in the mostly residential Cedar Run neighborhood, with no schools or businesses nearby, was being investigated, including by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The two men critically injured are New Jersey Natural Gas employees, as are seven of the people less severely hurt. Six firefighters and two emergency medical personnel were also injured. Many sustained concussion-like trauma from the blast's shock wave, Stafford Township Fire Chief Jack Johnson said.

Johnson, who was among those treated at a local hospital, said he was about 50 yards from the explosion. The two critically injured utility workers were about 20 feet away, he said.

The two were airlifted to the trauma unit at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City, where one was listed in critical condition and the other as critical but stable Tuesday afternoon. No further information about the workers, including the nature of their injuries, was being made public, officials said.

The explosion "happened out of nowhere. . . . It was something like we never experienced before," Johnson said. "It knocked you off your feet, a shock wave. . . . The concussion of it, it's something I never want to experience again."

Neighbors and other witnesses called Oak Avenue a "war zone," with debris from the exploded house and others scattered for a quarter-mile.

Two houses on either side of the exploded house and another home under renovation across the street lost windows and doors and have been deemed uninhabitable by local building code officials.

The house that was the epicenter of the explosion was destroyed, according to Stafford Township Police Capt. Tom Dellane.

"There is nothing remaining there but a block basement," Dellane said, "and the houses around it sustained significant damage."

Dellane said a shelter had been set up in a community center for residents unable to return to their homes as the investigation continues.

It was unclear how many people were unable to go home Tuesday evening. New Jersey Natural Gas set up a hotline for residents experiencing problems caused by the explosion at 1-800-221-0051.

About 300 houses in the vicinity were without gas or electric service, officials said Tuesday afternoon.

Max Van Ness, a landscaper from West Creek, said that he was driving in the Cedar Run neighborhood when the explosion occurred, and that it was "like a bomb."

Within seconds, all that was left of the house was the smoldering basement, he said.

"There's not anything left, just destruction everywhere," he said.

Van Ness said his truck shook "like it was an earthquake" as the house blew up.

The explosion shook houses as far as a mile away, officials said.

Cathy Zander, who lives about a quarter-mile from the blast site, said, "It felt like the ground buckled underneath me."

Zander said she was getting into her car at the moment of the explosion, "and I heard a loud boom, and that was it. Then it got really quiet. It was kind of eerie."

Three windows had been cracked and dishes rattled off a shelf in her house, she said.

"But I'm better off than the people who lost their homes," Zander said. "I only lost a few dishes."