Abingdon, IL- This case is an example of the fact that a gas odor only lets someone know gas is present. It does not warn people of the level of danger nor of the possibility of explosion.
Abingdon, IL
A natural gas explosion on Saturday has left one family homeless and their youngest child dead.
Scraps of timber is all that remains of a house on Main Street in Abingdon.Two adults and four children once lived in the home. Neighbors say the family was in the basement working on the furnace when either it or a gas line exploded.
Five family members have been flown by helicopter to hospitals outside of Galesburg. They all have severe burns. The father, 27 year old Todd Halleran, and the two kids are being treated at the University Hospital of Iowa. The mother, 29 year old Christine Johnson is in critical condition at a burn unit in Springfield. A seven year old child is also in critical condition at the St.Louis Children’s Hospital. The family’s two month old baby boy did not make it. Folks say they could hear Christine Johnson, yelling that her baby had been blown out of her arms. Neighbors then tried to help the family get out under their buried basement. The baby was pronounced dead at the scene.