ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- A natural gas explosion rocked an Allentown neighborhood late Wednesday, leveling two houses and spawning fires that burned for hours through an entire row of neighboring homes. Five people were killed.
One of the victims was found in a two-story row house in a downtown residential neighborhood that blew up about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, police Chief Roger MacClean said. A couple in their 70s lived in the home, but the condition of the body prevented positive identification, fire Chief Robert Scheirer said.
Crews were initially looking for 6 people, but one person was not home at the time of the explosion.
 Forty-seven buildings, including 10 businesses, were affected by the explosion and fire.
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The victims range in age from four months to 79 years old. The coroner is not releasing their names.
The blaze was put out early Thursday, delayed by the difficulty of digging through packed layers of snow and ice to a ruptured underground gas line that was feeding the flames, Scheirer said. About 500 to 600 people who were evacuated were allowed to return home.
Allentown Explosion, Fire Scene
Forty-seven buildings, including 10 businesses, were affected by the explosion and fire.
Investigators are looking into whether a natural gas leak caused the explosion.
The blast was so powerful that it sent a flat-screen computer monitor sailing into the back of Antonio Arroyo, whose house was on the opposite end of the row from the explosion.
"I thought we were under attack," he recalled from a shelter where some 250 people took refuge in the hours after the blast.
Arroyo and his wife, Jill, both 43, lost their home in the fire.
Antonio said he ran outside and saw that an entire house had been leveled, a fireball now raging in the spot where it once stood.
"What I saw, I couldn't believe," said Arroyo, a community volunteer.
 Barbara Barr This is a view of the area affected by the explosion and fire.
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He and his wife, a nurse, fled their home with only the clothes on their back. They planned to return at daylight to see what they could salvage. Jill Arroyo broke down sobbing when she recalled her son's athletic memorabilia - likely lost in the blaze - including DVDs of his high school football games.
"The DVDs are gone. All his trophies are gone. All gone," she sobbed as her husband comforted her.
Tricia Aleski, who lives a few blocks away, said the explosion jangled her nerves.
"I was reading a book in the living room and it felt like a giant kicked the house. It all shook. Everything shook," she said. "I checked the stove and everything, (to) make sure everything's off."
Jason Soke was watching college basketball when he heard and felt the explosion. It rattled his windows. He went to the third floor and looked out and saw flames and smoke.
"Your senses kind of get stunned," he said. "It puts you on edge."
Utility: Gas Main Inspected This Week
A representative for a utility company said a routine leak-detection check this week found no problems in the area where the natural gas explosion happened.
Joe Swope said Reading-based UGI Utilities Inc. inspected the main in that part of Allentown on Tuesday. He said there is no history of leaks for that section of 12-inch cast-iron main, and there were no calls about gas odors before the explosion.
Swope said the utility used foam to seal the gas main on both ends of a one-block area at about 3:45 a.m. Thursday. Swope said it took crews some time to cut through reinforced concrete underneath the pavement.
LINK: Find Gas Pipelines In Your Community
LINK: How Natural Gas Is Transported 
