Thursday, 4:30 PM
Student trapped after Easton explosion recalls crawling toward the light
(Robert Klein for The Boston Globe)
Matt Tarulli describes what happened as his mother, Maryann, looks on.
By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
EASTON -- When he heard the explosion, Matt Tarulli was sitting in his second floor bedroom, working idly on his computer and listening to ESPN commentators on television wax on about sports. The floor gave way, and he was suddenly buried in a pile of wood and plaster.
Looking down, Tarulli spotted fire. Glancing up, he spied a way out.
"I just saw light and started going for it," Tarulli, 19, told reporters today at Stonehill College. He recalled how after Monday morning's explosion he crawled over nails and glass, squeezed through splintered wood, and wormed his way to the edge of the pile of debris so he could shout for help.
Construction workers who responded to the blast at 11 a.m. heard Tarulli's calls and pulled him out of the rubble. Moments later, there was a second explosion, and the house burst into flames.
"It's just really a miracle for me to be here right now," said Tarulli, who was released from Brigham & Women's Hospital Monday night. As he spoke today, he was joined by his parents, who rushed from Saddle Brook, N.J., to be with their son.
"The only thing I have to say is thank you God for my son," said his mother, Maryann Tarulli.
Tarulli, a junior and a backup fullback on the Stonehill football team, said he had scrapes, cuts, and bruises across his back, cut a toe on his left foot, and felt pain in his left hip. He walked to today's press conference with the help of a cane, but said he expected to be well enough to cheer his teammates from the sidelines in their home game Friday against Pace University.
A spokeswoman for State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said today that investigators have concluded the explosion was caused by natural gas that seeped into the building and was ignited by the pilot light on a hot water tank inside the house. Spokeswoman Jennifer Mieth said investigators have two theories how the gas made its way inside the house but are waiting to interview the two injured workers before reaching conclusions.
Work crews for Bay State Gas Co. and a subcontractor were reconnecting gas service to the home when it exploded. Bay State has been upgraded gas lines in the neighborhood for the past several weeks. Donald DiNunno, spokesman for Bay State Gas Company, said they have not been formally notified by Coan's office about what caused the explosion. He also said that there are a number of state and federal agencies who are investigating, and that it would be premature to assign blame until those investigations are complete.
