The Borough Park building explosion that left one woman dead yesterday may have been caused by a gas leak created during the removal of a high-end stove.
The force of the explosion blew the façade from the three-story building at on 42nd Street and 13th Avenue and severely damaged the neighboring buildings.
FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro has now said that the gas leak that triggered when the second-floor tenants were attempting to move and removed their stove without turing off the gas, according to the New York Daily News.
“They were moving out of the apartment and wanted to take that stove with them,” Nigro said at a Saturday afternoon news conference. “(Taking) a stove with you entails disconnecting the gas line which leads us preliminarily to look in that direction for the cause of this explosion.”
Police are still searching for another missing resident of the building.[NYDN] – Christopher Cameron