Amityville Firefighter Jack Squicciarini talks to tenant at 34 Meadow La., Richard Brown, who narrowly escaped injury with his family in a blast that leveled his home. Photo by Joe Turner After an exhaustive investigation, the Suffolk County Police Arson Squad has determined that the gas explosion of a home at 34 Meadow La., Dec. 29 "was a noncriminal event," according to Det. Sgt. George White.

"From our perspective the incident was accidential," said White. "Evidence recovered was sent to a private laboratory for stress testing and indications are that there was a failure between the meter and the street." That, he added, is something that National Grid, the gas supplier, will be investigating further.

Residents in the home at the time, Richard Brown and Jaimie Massey and two children, reported hearing a loud pop and the smell of gas. They called 9-1-1 and when police and firefighters arrived they reported hearing what sounded like a high pressure or main line gas leak. Homes at 10, 26 and 27 Meadow Lane were evacuated and minutes later the house exploded.

"You knew immediately by the sound of it that it was more than just a slight leak," said one Amityville Police Officer. "It was a miracle that no one was injured. It could have been a real tragedy."

The Fire Department had approximately 50 volunteers at the scene with Copiague providing a ladder truck and Massapequa available with a rapid intervention team, if needed, said Chief Russell Sawyer. "Our immediate efforts were to secure the scene and keep everyone at a safe distance," he said. "We were concerned about a secondary source until they could get the gas shut off."

According to Village records, the home is owned by Christopher and Michelle Logan and Rami Nader, with a contact address as 34 Meadow Lane. They purchased it in 2006 from Stephen D. Lee, and leased it to Brown and Massey. Neither, the Logans or Nader could not be reached for comment.

Village records also show that the building department made an inspection of the home in June of 2006, after receiving complaints by the tenants that the home's interior windows and doors had peeling, chipping, and flaking paint, and that there was cracked and loose plaster and decayed wood surfaces. In addition, they complained that the home's sanitary drainage system did not meet the code and the home had electrical problems and no smoke alarms.

"We inspected the premises and all of the violations were remedied," said Amityville Building Inspector, John Lauria.

"Our guys did a tremendous job at the scene and we are glad that there were no injuries," said Chief Sawyer.

The family lost everything in the disaster and is in need of assistance. Anyone who would like to help out is being asked to call the St. Martin of Tours Community Outreach at 631-264-4840. The director there said the Outreach has been in touch with the family and will be handling contributions.