At least one person is dead and two others are injured after a mass explosion on the early Sunday in northern Philadelphia that completely leveled three nossed houses and damaged several other houses in the surrounding blocks, authorities said.
Firefighters from the Philadelphia Fire Department, using a search dog, continued to examine the debris in the person’s person neighborhood on Sunday afternoon, looking for victims and what caused the explosion, according to Daniel McCarty, executive officer of the Fire Department.
The cause of explosion and fire has not yet been determined, McCarty said. He said that the Federal Office of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was on stage helping in the investigation.
Firefighters from Philadelphia sprayed water in the debris of three rows that collapsed after an early explosion and shot in the morning in the Nicoeown neighborhood, on June 29, 2025.
WPVI
The explosion occurred around 4:50 am local time on Sunday in the 1900 block of West Bristol Street in the Nicetown neighborhood of northern Philadelphia, authorities said.
When firefighters and police officers arrived at the scene, they found three attached attached houses completely collapsed and in flames, according to the officials, who said that the Firefighters and the Police immediately began looking in the remains and took two women from one of the collapsed residences.
A search and rescue K9 is looking for the debris of one of the three attached houses that collapsed in an explosion, on June 29, 2025, in the neighborhood of Nortecia de Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Fire Department
Badly wounds were taken by ambulance to a hospital. One of the victims was in critical condition and the other was in a stable state, McCarty said.
During a secondary search, a search and rescue dog alerted the crews of a possible body buried in the debris, said a Philadelphia police officer.
“After crossing some of the debris, we were able to discover that we really had a victim who was in the collapse. It was also determined that the victim at that time had died in the collapse,” said the police officer during a press conference.
The mayor of Philadelphia, Cherelle Parker, said he went to the hospital to control the two injured women and spoke with their families.
“Philadelphia, we want to ask you to lift them in prayer,” Parker said. “For all families, we are lifting it in prayer, and the city of Philadelphia will remain here and on the scene to ensure that any person who has been directly or indirectly impacted receives the support and services they need.”
Firefighters from Philadelphia sprayed water in one of the three attached houses that collapsed during an explosion, on June 29, 2025, in the neighborhood of the person who killed a person and wounded two others.
Philadelphia Fire Department
The explosion, according to McCarty, left numerous houses in the blocks surrounding the collapsed residences with broken windows and other structural damage.
McCarty said that several vehicles in the area were also damaged and buried under debris.
Rocky Dotson, who lives two blocks from the explosion, said he heard the explosion.
“I’m sitting in the living room to watch television and, sudden WPVI.
Dotson said that before leaving to see the noise, a relative called him and told him that the houses had been destroyed by an explosion near his home.
“I left and it was just a total chaos,” Dotson said about seeing firefighters and ambulances running to the scene.
Dotson said he had just walked through the houses that were destroyed on Friday. “Not seeing those houses is crazy,” he said.
McCarty said Pico, the Filadelphia and Philadelphia Gas Works Electric Services Company were on Sunday helping in the investigation. He added that about 10 houses in the explosion area have been evacuated and that a temporary emergency shelter had opened.
The researchers “are literally brick by brick to discover evidence to identify what happened here this morning,” said McCarty.
