Oh, So A House Blew Up Yesterday

A building at Sixth and Bainbridge was minding its own business yesterday when all of a sudden it exploded. A truck driver heard a whistling sound and, then, kaboom.

The explosion happened at the Queen Village rowhouse at around 4 p.m. yesterday. (Note: All references to Queen Village in news stories should contain “posh” as an adjective somewhere.)

Nobody knows why the explosion happened, but gas lines were cut off, the right people are investigating, etc., etc. Meanwhile, a window shattered at 16th and Walnut and closed off the street and Terminal A East was evacuated at the airport.

Be afraid today?

Meth Labs Not The Only Thing Blowin’ Up

Remember the guy who was arrested for growing marijuana in a condo at $600k-a-pop Dockside? Well, despite still sitting in prison, he’s been arrested again for a marijuana-growing operation in Upper Darby, the Daily News‘ Christine Olley reports.

Now that’s a man with a commitment to his business.

Saji Ravindran, 29, was arrested on charges similar to the ones he’s facing in Philly: manufacturing, possession, possession with the intent to deliver and risking a catastrophe. On Saturday, Ravindran’s sister went to check on her parents’ house in the U.D. and heard smoke alarms. The cops and firefighters broke down the door and put out the fire, I guess, and later seized all the marijuana growing paraphernalia.

Upper Darby police superintendent Michael Chitwood, though, was happy he had to print one less “SCUMBAG” t-shirt:

For now, however, Chitwood is relieved. “We are lucky that we didn’t have an entire block blow up,” he said.

Shit! Marijuana growing operations can blow up now, too?

Jailed suspect charged with running 2nd pot lab [Daily News]
Dec. 7: Just Wait ‘Til The Trouble When Symphony House Opens
Upper Darby Enters T-Shirt War

Leftovers: Fire, Water, Sue

• PECO is probing the cause of yesterday’s explosion/fire/half-day. But guess what? “Litigation is possible,” according to the Inquirer. Dun dun dun! [Inky]

• Several commenters on this thread have proposed John Kruk as the Phillies’ new manager. It’s official: Beerleaguer has gotten too popular. Then again, who could resist the dreamy Jason Weitzel? [Beerleaguer]

• Yesterday, the Space Shuttle Atlantis returned to earth very smoothly. Today, an astronaut fainted at a press conference. (The astronaut is okay.) It was not the one from Philadelphia, though. Hooray! [AP/CNN.com]

• Two more homicides in Philadelphia this morning — a 19-year-old and a 20-year-old. Sigh. [Inky]

• And, finally, Sweeney is hosting the Dog Olympics tomorrow. Oh, now this is an event for the ages. [Philebrity]

Running A Horoscope As A Headline

For Center City, that was prophetic, I suppose.

Community groups fear a loss of power [Metro]

Leftovers: All Explosions, All The Time

• The upside to the Great Center City Explosion of 2006: “Thousands of workers from several nearby buildings, including 1500 Market Street, were evacuated. At that point, [Fire Commissioner] Ayers says, many employers gave their workers the rest of the day off.” [KYW 1060]

• And, in case you really, really need to know about a ruptured power line downtown, here are all the relevant news and forum links: CBS 3, 6 ABC, NBC 10, Inquirer, Philly Future, Phillyblog, Craigslist Rants & Raves.

• The Action News morning team took a trip down the Brandywine Creek this morning. Tamala Edwards writes, “But that may not have been such a good thing, since David and Karen ended up in more banks than the earlier team of Tam and Karen. Tam and Matt sashayed down the river, talking politics and wedding planning (Tam was very anxious to get to the end of the trip; her wedding dress was waiting in South Philadelphia, with a shop owner who was about to leave on an international trip. The pressure!).” The Brandywine Creek makes you talk in the third person, apparently. [6 ABC]

• In New Jersey, you now have more rights in your car than in your home. Look for a burgeoning meth lab operation out of peoples’ trunks sometime soon. [Camden Courier Post]

Breaking: Center City Explosion To Impede Tomorrow’s Daily Dose Of Person-On-The-Street Interviews And He Said/She Said Sex Columns?

An text message from the famed anonymous metro staffer:

This just in! Metro evacuated!

Oh, no.

Metro

Your Evening Commute To Get A Lot Worse

An underground explosion has shut down pretty much all of Center City. A 36-block radius — 13th to 18th, Walnut to Vine — is closed. (The explosion also took out power to PW. Oh, the horror.)

Thousands of people have been evacuated after an underground explosion and then fire at S. 15 Street. KYW 1060 is reporting that a cable had a fault in it at 15th Street, and then someone tried to switch the load to another cable — but instead switched it to the faulty cable. (Got all that?)

Now there are fires at 15th and Ranstead and 13th and Chestnut. Of course, if this really affects you, you’re probably out in front of your building and not reading this, are you?

Update, 3:10 p.m.: Fire commish says one person is injured; also has hilarious “has to turn down his radio” moment during the presser, as if he were on sports talk radio.

Underground Electrical Explosion Rocks Penn Center Area [KYW 1060]