Gas explosion destroys Readville home, causes $1m damage

Caroline Allen, a spokeswoman for NSTAR which supplies natural gas to the neighborhood, said the company had learned that a Boston Water and Sewer contractor was working on Danny Road, replacing a water main.

While digging in the street, the contractor cut into a service line feeding gas into the house, which allowed gas to seep into the house, she said.

The gas was then ignited by some as-yet unknown source, she said. Allen said the gas to the house has been shut off, but it is still being supplied to the neighborhood.

Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said the jostling of the service line caused the gas meter attached to the house to pull away from the house and gas to leak, collecting in the house.

"This obviously is an accident, '' MacDonald said.

MacDonald the ignition source "could have been a hot water heater or a stove, something with a pilot light. We just don't know at this point."

Investigators are currently interviewing contractors to find out what precautionary steps they took during their work on the water main, he said.

He said the workers immediately knew the gravity of what they had done and knocked repeatedly on the house's door to warn residents. Within seconds after the workers gave up, the house exploded.

Allen identified the contractor as DeFelice Corp. of Dracut. Aerial shots by television news helicopters showed a large yellow backhoe with the name DeFelice painted in black perched over a deep hole in Reynold Road.

At the scene, Menino said he could not comment on the cause, citing an ongoing investigation. He said his wife said the explosion felt like an earthquake had hit their home, which was undamaged.

The mayor said the city will do what it can to help Burns rebuild.

He added, "That's the thing about life, you don't know what is going to happen.''

Menino later toured the nearby BC Baking Co. on Como Road where owner Jim Mariano
said he was in the midst of loading his ovens when the explosion took place. "There was a loud explosion and then the building rocked, moving like an earthquake," he said.

Mariano said his 95-year-old brick ovens were cracked.

Boston Fire department spokesman Steve MacDonald said the first 911 call was received around 8:47 a.m. and that the chief on the scene eventually called in a second alarm. An evacuation order covering a large part of the neighborhood is expected to be lifted later today, he said.

Fire officials estimated the damage to the Burns's home at $500,000 and that an additional $500,000 in damage was done to area homes and businesses.

Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis lives close to the scene in Hyde Park. About two hours after the explosion, he was on Reynold Road with his niece and wife, who walked their Cocker Spaniel, Rudy.

"We're very lucky," Davis said.

Neighbor Gertrude Foley, who is 78 years old and housebound, said that the detonation woke her up. Foley said she thought "the world was coming to an end. ... From my back windows I can see white smoke in the air. … All the neighbors ran down, they put coats on over their pajamas.''

Obie Bah, who lives across the street from Burns' home, said she asked the contractors for help this morning when she could not get water supplied to her home as a result of the work underway.

With water restored, Bah said she had just finished taking a shower when the gas ignited.

"I never heard such a noise,'' she said. All of the windows in her home were destroyed, she said. "Right now, I am in shock. I can't believe it happened.''

Globe correspondents Jeff Fish and L. Finch contributed to this report.