Video captures shocking moment house explodes into large fireball

At least five people are dead after a house suddenly exploded in a neighborhood outside Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, a house in Plum, a town about 15 miles outside Pittsburgh, exploded, destroying three homes and damaging more than a dozen others in the neighborhood. Five people were killed in the tragic incident — four adults and one child — while another person was critically wounded.

A Ring doorbell camera attached to a nearby house captured the shocking explosion:

Crews from 18 different fire departments were dispatched to help battle the ensuing fire and search for victims in the rubble. According to WTAE-TV, 57 firefighters were treated for injuries at the scene.

The cause of the explosion remains unclear, and officials warned the investigation could take months or years. The natural gas utility company that services the area investigated for potential leaks, but the company found its systems had been "operating as designed" when the explosion occurred, WTAE reported.

Plum, unfortunately, is no stranger to home explosions.

Last April, a house exploded in a neighborhood about 4 miles away from the site of Saturday's explosion. Fortunately, no one died in that incident. The cause of that explosion remains under investigation.

There was another deadly explosion in 2008, the cause of which was later discovered. From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

A National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that a 2-inch natural gas distribution pipeline had been hit by a backhoe when a sewer line was replaced five years prior in 2003, stripping the pipeline of its protective coating and making it susceptible to corrosion and failure.

Holiday Park fire Chief James Sims said he has responded to six house explosions in Plum in his decades as a firefighter.

"This isn't the first time that this has happened in Plum," resident Justin Newman told WTAE. "We need answers. We need to know why this is happening. It's sad that people lost their lives and we don’t have answers. We need answers for these families we need answers for this community."

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