Nicetown residents search for normalcy after explosion kills one neighbor, injures two others

Willie Lovelace, 69, does not know what the next week will bring after a fire and subsequent explosion Sunday left the Nicetown home he was living in severely damaged, requiring it to be torn down.

“I got to start all over again, start over from scratch,” said Lovelace from the Red Cross House in University City. “At the age of 69 years old, it’s very hard.”

Even so, Lovelace is grateful to be alive.

The explosion, which took place shortly before 5 a.m., resulted in one fatality, the hospitalization of two women ages 82 and 62, the destruction of three homes on the 1900 block of West Bristol Street, and damage to five other properties. PECO, which intentionally disrupted service to dozens of homes as emergency responders worked to prevent additional collapses, said it restored power to 41 of the 44 homes shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday.

The utility said there was no evidence “suggesting any connection between PECO’s aerial electric equipment in the area” and the explosion.

Still, Philadelphia Fire Department Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson warned that finding the cause of the explosion “may take time.”

Fire Department spokesperson Rachel Cunningham said contractors continued to clear the scene Monday, and once the Department of Licenses and Inspections deemed the site secure, the Fire Marshal’s Office would deploy its “certified accelerant detection canines,” which is standard operating procedure. The dogs will help determine the cause and origin of the fire and help investigators “gain more insight into how the collapse occurred.”

The day after the explosion, residents tried to navigate their anxieties and the hole left on the block where homes once stood. Two of their neighbors remained hospitalized, one in critical condition.

The more than 100 residents who were asked to evacuate the neighborhood trickled back home as local emergency responders and the Fire Marshal continued to dig through debris and investigate the cause of the blast. A PGW spokesperson said the utility was assisting investigators and had yet to resume service for three homes, awaiting the go-ahead from the Fire Department.

Midafternoon, about 10 teens equipped with brooms and dustpans diligently cleaned up the block. But a nearby explosion Monday left residents of the block, including Stacy Oglesby, in a state of panic. According to the Fire Department, it was a propane tank and unrelated to Sunday’s explosion, but people like Oglesby said feeling the “whole area shift again” took her right back to Sunday’s explosion, which left glass all over her bed.

It was an added stress on an already busy day. Emergency services told her she could return home, but her insurance told her she couldn’t stay in the property because of the toxins caused by the smoke. As far as aid, Oglesby said she hadn’t heard from the city, and the Red Cross gave her a case number but couldn’t offer any additional help because damage to her house wasn’t severe enough.

“But I have to find somewhere to stay,” she said.

Alana Mauger, spokesperson for the American Red Cross Southeastern PA, said the nonprofit was able to provide financial assistance to two families that should meet immediate needs for up to three days. It also connected Lovelace to an overnight shelter until the organization could get him a room at the Red Cross House.

Lovelace said he was grateful the Red Cross was able to connect him with a room but worried about how he’ll be able to make money to get back on his feet and how long he’ll be able to stay with the nonprofit.

“I was doing plumbing work and all my tools were in the basement,” he said. “I can’t retrieve anything. I don’t have anything.”

For now, he’s just focusing on what’s next. Lovelace had his first appointment Tuesday with a Red Cross case manager, who will go over next steps with him.