An explosion at a house in the 100 block of Mardi Gras Drive in Plum this afternoon has left a man dead and a child injured and 15 other houses damaged, police said.

Police Chief Frank Monaco said a man and his grand-daughter, who is 4 years old, were injured. Both were flown to UPMC Mercy. The man, who is not being identified pending notification of next of kin, has now died, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office. The blast blew both out of the house. The girl was found in the front yard, the man in the street. The girl has a broken femur and her injuries are not apparently life-threatening, Chief Monaco said. "She was blown right out of the house. That she wasn't killed is a miracle." The man had burns on 50 percent of his body and was in critical condition when he was taken to the hospital.

Twenty to 25 houses in the block were evacuated as crews check for any gas leaks. A shelter has been set up at Holiday Park Elementary School.

There was no known gas or other utility work being done in the area.

The house where the explosion occurred at 1:40 p.m. was destroyed, and debris was still burning late this afternoon and gas was still seeping up from ground. Debris was scattered in yards all around the house.

The neighborhood has 1960s era houses. Almost all that is left of the house that exploded is a blackened begium-block foundation with shards of what was once the home piled inside, including wire, pink insulation and drywall. Hundreds of strips of aluminum siding blown from the house and neighboring ones are scattered around the area. There is glass and nails all over the ground and the street is slick with foam from firefighting efforts.

"Imagine the impact," said Chief Monaco, pointing to a chunk of roof tangled in a tree at least two stories from the ground. Smoke still hangs heavy in the neighborhood.

The home to the left is standing, but the side adjacent to the destroyed home is blackened and the windows blown out. The side of the house to the right side has been blown out, exposing the interior of the house. Up and down the curving Mardi Gras street houses are damaged, with blown-out windows with curtains hanging out.

About 80 firefighters were on the scene.

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More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.