GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A rural highway damaged when a natural gas pipeline exploded into a fireball in western Pennsylvania will remain closed for repairs for at least a few more days.
Route 819 in Salem Township remained closed Tuesday from Route 22 to Boff Hollow Road. The stretch about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh was damaged when the pipeline burst, scorching 40 acres in the largely rural township.
One man whose nearby home was destroyed, 26-year-old James Baker, has been upgraded from critical to fair condition at the burn unit of UPMC Mercy hospital in Pittsburgh.
Spectra Energy Corp. of Houston is working with the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to investigate the cause of the explosion.
The company has three other underground pipelines running through the township.
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