Firefighters Responding To Blast, Blaze In Allentown, Pa.; Residents Evacuated

buses are being used for evacuations... one caller mentioned that they have cleared the 7th floor in one of the buildings.. also heard a mention to be aware of crews poking holes in the street (gas line probing?)..

Also just came across that a facility with 200 beds was available.... (most likely places for the evacuees to be housed)...

edit to add.. this is from the live county feed linked in my last post...

reply to post by JacKatMtn


The picture shows large cranes in the air showering water down on the entire block, or blocks.

Images from NBC station WCAU showed flames reaching hundreds of the feet into the air.

Have you heard anything about the rumbling underground that is being reported?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6fda8f6d88a1.jpg[/atsimg]
Photo credit NBC News
www.msnbc.msn.com...

reply to post by JacKatMtn


The other day I saw a thread about FEMA and some maps that was dealing with emergency scenarios. Do you know what that thread was, specifically what FEMAs plans were for that area?

...heres a map of natural gas pipelines in the usofa... something like 20,000 miles worth...

4.bp.blogspot.com...

reply to post by burntheships


no mentions of rumblings. though the street probing may be associated with that aspect..

It's mostly the fire crews doing their best to attack the blaze, and evacuate the folks in the buildings.. I have heard of 2 being mentioned.. could be more but I have heard only 2 mentioned so far..

reply to post by JacKatMtn


Humm also report from MSNBC says flames shooting 100 feet into the air.

That sounds like a gas feed or explosives, but still burning seems it would indicate gas?

This is not good....

According to reports, debris could be seen blocks away.

Police have closed off the area as a third alarm was sounded for additional crews to respond to the scene and battle the fire that resulted from the explosion. Flames have spread to at least three homes.

Crews from Reading-based UGI are also on the scene, however, there is no confirmation of the explosion being caused by natural gas.

69 News viewers have called from as far away as Center Valley, Pa. saying their homes shook from the explosion

www.wfmz.com...

reply to post by Skewed


not sure which one that might be.. here's one from a couple of days ago..

www.abovetopsecret.com...

here's a search result on FEMA for ATS for the past week.. maybe you can locate it here



It does appear to be a GAS issue.... it's still not clear (as in all clear for the gas danger) right now according to the scanner feed...

A big and dangerous explosion! The rumbling underground - something happening far underground that could cause more explosions;. Hope everyone gets evacated alright.

live only 45 minutes away so i'll watch the local news tomorrow and if they know wwhat happened and get back to all of you.when find out something.

Another report on the news...

"I was in the basement watching a movie with my granddaughter," Dalrymple said about 11:30 p.m., about 45 minutes after the initial explosion. "All I felt was like a suction and a big boom and I ran upstairs and here my front door was blown open.

"I looked across the street and the house was already in splinters. It just blew up into splinters," he continued, adding he didn't see fire at first. "It caught on fire in like five minutes."
Dalrymple, who grew up in Wilson Borough, where his mother still lives, escaped out the back door with his wife, Terry Elison, and his granddaughter, Kylie Zaun. He said he looked around the corner of his home to see flames coming from the second story of the row home that had been attached to the destroyed home.
........
Dalrymple said homes in the area are served by natural gas.
"We are just assuming it was a gas explosion because the house is not even there. It's gone," he said.

www.lehighvalleylive.com...
According to the report, its below freezing there....

Wow, it's really weird reading about this JUST happening and then being able to listen to the scanner as it happens! Technology is crazy!
I hope that everyone comes out ok.. What a scary thing to have to go thru!

I was working in philly today. Two different buildings had calls into philadelphia gas works for 'gas' leaks, with pgw techs looking around, oddly both times they couldnt locate the person who called. Both times nothing was found.

reply to post by burntheships


Just heard of mention of need for a litter at Gross Towers.. which looks to be a senior center? seems to be this area since they mention 14th and Allen alot in these transmissions.. Still no word on whether they have located or turned off any gas leaks..


www.google.com...

call just came through that the 2 towers have been evacuated... a count was asked for and the answer was around 500 evacuees..

I'm not saying this is what caused it....but I remembered reading a thread regarding this close pass asteroid. Have there been any reports of fireballs or unusuall lights/sounds, etc.?

Check out the orbit for today:

Diagram

Here is the ATS thread about it:

Car sized asteroid

Im about 10 minutes away from Allentown and my parents live in Allentown and I haven't felt a thing, so I can guarantee its not an earthquake. I'm sure its a natural gas explosion as many homes here use it for heating and cooking.

reply to post by burntheships


Oh my...very interesting. Not conclusive evidence but in my opinion....
I would think it to be connected.

Construction begins on Susquehanna County natural gas pipeline
Pipeline measuring 33 miles will carry substance to New York

8:04 PM, Feb. 7, 2011

A new, 16-inch vein is being added to Susquehanna County's natural gas circulatory system in Pennsylvania.

Construction has begun on the Susquehanna Gathering System, a 33-mile pipeline that will carry up to 475 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from Pennsylvania to New York's Millennium Pipeline

www.pressconnects.com...

And considering that, I would be suprised that there is not more damage....

This would explain the rumbling undergound, the 100 foot flames.

Not good, sure hope they do a better job getting the gas to New York!

Burntheships, your reporting skills are the best. mods ---> JacKatMtn I vote for Burnthe ships. Can you please send this member a cool ATS shirt? maybe the new ATS coffee mug?

Thanks!

keep up the good work

still an active scene... alot of reallocating assets going on (guessing it's the folks who were evacuating the towers?).. one strange thing (might not be but this is ATS), they keep mentioning the acting mayor... it could just be that the mayor is out of town?

also.. a request for a team to help with animals... something called a CART team..

still no all clear on the gas situation...

If this was a leak...it was just inside that one house and not the gas lines feeding the house...IMO.

Something like this happened near where I live not too long ago (few years back)...turned out it was a suicide attempt. The guy cut the gas line on the stove...waited an hour or so...then lit a match and boom. The house was literally gone...like there was never a house there...just a flaming pile of wood and the houses next to it on fire.

At the time, I lived about 1-2 miles away from that house...and it rocked my house hard enough that my first thought was that someone just drove a car into the front of my house (I know, odd reaction but that is what I thought).

Natural gas can cause some big booms...but it needs to be concentrated and it smells. So for a house to fill up like that to create an explosion like that...I think it would have to be done on purpose. Or that nobody was home.