Explosion at Seaside Heights Home Saturday Morning Linked to Gas Leak

The site of a natural gas explosion March 14, 2015. (Credit: Google Maps)

There has been another case of a natural gas leak leading to an explosion in an Ocean County home, officials said Saturday.

The latest explosion occurred at the house at 223 Sumner Avenue in Seaside Heights at 10:10 a.m. Saturday, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s office. It is the third home to suffer an explosion in recent weeks – the first two were in Stafford Township and Point Pleasant Beach.

According to Della Fave, a 26-year-old woman who was renting an apartment in the house was injured in the blast and was taken to Community Medical Center for treatment of “minor injuries and burns.” A man working on renovations to another apartment in the building was not injured.

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The preliminary investigation, Della Fave said, has found that the explosion and fire were related to a natural gas leak emanating from inside the structure.

“The leak and accompanying ignition source is yet to be determined,” Della Fave said.

Damaged to the structure has rendered it uninhabitable, and officials said the investigation was continuing.

Local fire units quickly extinguished the flames and the Seaside Heights Police Department, Ocean County Prosecutors Office Arson Unit, Ocean County Sheriff’s Department CSI and Ocean County Fire Marshall’s Office are conducting the investigation.

Earlier this week, a group of Ocean County legislators sponsored a bill that would require homes with natural gas to be equipped with detectors that would alert residents to the presence of explosive gasses.