Homeowner Is Sixth Person To Die in Pennsylvania House Explosion

A 56-year-old man who co-owned the Pittsburgh-area home that exploded on Saturday, killing his wife and four others, has succumbed to injuries he sustained from the blast.

Paul Oravitz, the sixth victim in the incident, died after he was hospitalized for four days with severe burns over most of his body, according to the Associated Press.

While the cause of the explosion remains under investigation, investigators said Monday Oravitz and his wife, Heather, were having problems with the hot water tank in the basement of their Plum, Pennsylvania, house prior to the deadly blast.

Family members and local officials have named the five other people killed as:

According to Tribune Live, the cause and manner of death for all of the victims was still pending on Wednesday.

The explosion at 141 Rustic Ridge Drive on Saturday morning also injured two other people, but both were later released from hospitals, officials have said. The explosion destroyed three buildings and damaged several others.

Paul Oravitz was remembered as a strong supporter of the Plum Area Youth Soccer club when his two, now-adult children played the sport and for a while after, the outlet reported.

“The world just lost one of the best creations God ever made,” Fred Lucas, who has presided over the club since 1995, told the Tribune. “I don’t know anybody better than him, and I’ve met a lot of people in my lifetime.

“We will soldier on because of him, because he set the template to follow in how you deal with youth, organizations and people in general. That will be our legacy for him, to follow in the template he set.”

A GoFundMe campaign launched to help support the late couple's two children had raised more than $54,000 as of Thursday.

"Taylor and Cole have a long road ahead to navigate," the fundraiser page says. "The unknown, the stress, the expenses, the LOSS. Please consider coming to the aid of Taylor and Cole."

Michael Huwar, president of Peoples Gas, said his company probed for gas leaks underground and in the air and verified consistent pressure, showing “our system was operating as designed" at the time of the explosion.

A spokesperson for the company said Wednesday additional system testing was completed, allowing for the utility provider to restore gas service in the area, the AP reported.

The neighborhood sits on abandoned mine land and is close to shallow oil and gas wells, according to the news service.

Two wells still producing gas are within roughly 1,000 feet of the Oravitz's home but neither have been thought to have played a role in the explosion, the AP reported.