Gas Explosion Hurts 1, Routs 16

Leaking natural gas from a fireplace pipe set off an explosion in a Wilshire-area apartment, leaving one person hospitalized and 16 others homeless, authorities said today.

Timothy O’Neel, 34, was taken to the burn ward at County-USC Medical Center, where a hospital spokeswoman said he was still undergoing evaluation. The Red Cross was providing shelter to 16 adults whose apartments in the building on Burnside Avenue were damaged, officials said, after O’Neel removed a pipe fitting from a gas fireplace in his apartment. The fumes accumulated and exploded when they reached a kitchen pilot light shortly before midnight, they said.