Explosion destroys house
By Jennifer Fitch The Record Herald

TOMSTOWN - As Ronald and Maxine Barnes ate breakfast at 6:30 this morning, they heard a noise that was quickly followed by a large explosion in the basement of their home at 8010 Mentzer Gap Road.

When Ronald Barnes opened the basement door, flames singed his hair.
He slammed the door shut and fled with his wife through the back door of their ranch-style home.

Outside, they discovered bricks from the entire back wall blown out onto the lawn and shards of glass scattered on the grass. Flames roared inside the basement and soon spilled out the windows.

The window screens had been thrown 40 feet by the blast.

As Waynesboro Volunteer Fire Department crews battled the blaze and the exploding power lines that ran from the house to the main lines along the road, firefighters quickly found themselves short on water.

Two hours after the fire started, flames were still spilling from the home as fire officials drew water from a number of hydrants in Waynesboro and called for tanker trucks from Franklin, Adams, Washington and Frederick counties.

Quincy Township, where the house is located, has no public water system, and homeowners rely on wells and cisterns. The lack of rain in recent months has affected water supplies.

Firefighters later stopped using water altogether and switched to compressed air foam. The foam causes wood to absorb water twice as fast.

"It was a defensive operation," said Gary Summers, Waynesboro's deputy fire chief, detailing how firefighters were prevented from entering the house.

They could not enter, he noted, because they did not know the cause of the explosion and because the home, now a total loss, was unstable.

Officials called for the Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal to investigate the cause of the explosion. By press time, he was still not able to enter the house.

Waynesboro Fire Chief Ron Flegel estimated firefighters would be on the scene until lunchtime.

By 7:30 this morning, flames were shooting from a window high on the home.

When the fire ignited nearby power lines, the lines began to crackle, spark and explode.

Firefighters cordoned off the area with caution tape, fearing the electricity would travel through the water they were using to put out the fire and injure the people gathered at the scene.

Allegheny Power crews turned off the electricity to the house at 8:18 a.m.

According to Fred Solomon, spokesperson for Allegheny Power, the company received a fax about the fire from Franklin County Emergency Services at 7:15 a.m. Emergency crews alerted them that a problem had occurred and power needed to be turned off.

Solomon said they got word to their workers at 7:50 a.m.

"The crew got there as fast as they could," he said.

In this area, Allegheny Power covers the area from Route 75 to 416, north to the turnpike and east to Gettysburg. Solomon said crews could have been working on a project anywhere in that area.

The Waynesboro Volunteer Fire Department was joined by firefighters from a number of departments, including Greencastle, Emmitsburg, Smithsburg, Leitersburg, Mont Alto, Blue Ridge Summit, Long Meadow and Buchanan Valley.

St. Thomas provided an ambulance as a precaution. The Franklin County Air Unit provided workers to refill firefighters' air packs.

None of the homeowners, neighbors, bystanders or firefighters suffered injuries. Two cats that were inside the home are unaccounted for.

Flegel credited the Barneses with decisively shutting the basement door and leaving the home immediately.

Photos by Robert Rosensteel Jr.