Category:Bausch House Gas Explosion, Allentown, Pennsylvania

At 8:42am on October 14, 1925 a sinkhole occurred near the southwest corner of West Chew and North Seventh Streets in Allentown. A natural gas main on Seventh Street cracked and the subterranean cavity filled with flammable gas. Witnesses to the explosion reported a strong odor of gas in the area and the gas company was called.

The home at 252 North Seventh Street, owned by Dr Elmer H Barsch was directly next to the gas main break. It is believed the pilot light (a flame) in the heating system of the house (basement, front room) was the ignition point of the explosion. The house, according to witnesses was blown upward from its foundation and the bricks literally disintegrated upwards "higher than the (center square) monument" The noise from the explosion was heard several miles away, and buildings were damaged within a two-block radius of the explosion by the blast effects.

Dr. Barsch survived the explosion, and was pulled from the rubble although servery injured, along with his older son. However his wife, infant son, and a maid were killed in the explosion. Also eleven more people were injured, 4 of which were hospitalized. Barush rebuilt his home in 1926, which exists today. He remarried and had a son in 1931, David Barush, whom still owns the property. Elmer Barush passed in May, 1964.