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Community event set to help residents affected by fatal Nicetown explosion

Officials will answer questions and provide resources Thursday evening at Edward T. Steel Elementary School, located at 4301 Wayne Ave., the city said.

A drone view of the collapsed homes on the 1900 block of West Bristol Street on June 30 in Philadelphia's Nicetown section. Three rowhouses collapsed after a fire and explosion. One person was found dead at the scene.
A drone view of the collapsed homes on the 1900 block of West Bristol Street on June 30 in Philadelphia's Nicetown section. Three rowhouses collapsed after a fire and explosion. One person was found dead at the scene.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer

The Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management said various city agencies will participate in a community event Thursday evening to continue helping residents affected by the June 29 explosion in Nicetown that killed a woman, injured two others and destroyed several rowhouses.

The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Edward T. Steel Elementary School auditorium, located at 4301 Wayne Ave.

The city Fire Department has said that a gas fire of “unknown origin” caused the explosion on the 1900 block of West Bristol Street that left a crater where one house stood and leveled two others that were adjacent to the property.

More than 100 people were temporarily displaced in the aftermath, the city said in its meeting announcement Wednesday evening.

The city Department of Licenses and Inspections has completed demolition of five properties, the OEM said.

Philadelphia Gas Works found no indication of an underground natural gas leak in the area, and the utility did not receive any calls reporting gas odors in the area before the explosion, OEM said.

“Philadelphia Gas Works does not have oversight over natural gas piping inside properties as indoor fuel lines and appliances are the responsibility of property owners,” OEM said.

On Wednesday morning, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission released the preliminary findings from its independent Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement on the explosion.

“At this stage, preliminary information suggests the possibility of a failure inside one of the homes, on the customer-owned side of the meter, which is outside of the PUC’s jurisdiction," the state regulatory agency said, emphasizing “customer-owned side” in italics.

The city meeting Thursday in Nicetown will include representatives from OEM, the Fire Department, PGW, L&I, the state Insurance Department, the city Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, and community partners. The representatives will provide resources and respond to questions from residents, OEM said.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to help impacted residents can do so via the city’s One Philly Fund.