A hole in a plastic gas pipeline could reveal more about the cause of a Bel Air house explosion that left the 73-year-old homeowner and a Baltimore Gas and Electric employee dead last summer.

The National Transportation Safety Board released initial reports about the home explosion that happened in the 2300 block of Arthurs Woods Drive the morning of Aug. 11, 2024. Excavations revealed damaged electric service cables and a hole in the home’s plastic gas service line, according to the NTSB.

BGE removed parts of the plastic gas service line, including the source of the gas leak, the NTSB reported. As the NTSB’s investigation continues, officials will focus on BGE’s construction practices, its process for recording and responding to odor complaints, and its pipeline safety management system.

Jose Rodriguez-Alvarado, 35, was one of two BGE contractors called to restore electrical power to the home, owned by 73-year-old Ray Corkran Jr., following an outage the evening before.

The house exploded as they were working, killing Corkran and Rodriguez-Alvarado and injuring the other worker, who was not named by the NTSB. The explosion condemned eight other homes nearby and led to damage at 78 properties, according to the agency.

The hourslong fire battle and recovery

Volunteer firefighters from Abingdon were en route to the area following reports of a gas leak around 6:40 a.m. Two to three minutes out, at the intersection of Singer Road and Route 24, is when Abingdon Fire Co. Chief Chris Breslin heard a loud noise he thought was a tire blowout.

He didn’t smell gas but noticed clouds of smoke and scattered debris from the home. Moments later, he was at the scene of a home explosion, the first in his 40 years in the fire service, he told NTSB investigators.

He and his crew battled a fire for nearly seven hours that was concentrated in the home’s garage. Breslin told investigators the fire was seemingly gas-fueled. After hours on the scene, Breslin told investigators, he handed off command to Joseph Woods, deputy director of the Harford County Department of Emergency Services, to lead recovery efforts.

Other agencies that responded included the Maryland State Police, Maryland State Fire Marshal, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Three gas leaks were found after a survey of the neighborhood, the NTSB reported. Further testing of the home that exploded found high gas readings under the property’s driveway, according to the NTSB.

Before Aug. 11, two other calls were made concerning gas odors at the home, on Sept. 4, 2021, and May 14, 2024. Gas leaks were unfounded in both cases by BGE.

The most recent gas service and gas main compliance leak surveys of the home were completed on Sept. 25, 2023, and in October 2023, respectively.

An analysis and the probable cause of the explosion will be released at the conclusion of the NTSB’s investigation, the agency announced.