Revisiting Bay Ridge’s 1991 Labor Day explosion after 25 years
Marking the 25 year anniversary of a devastating 86th Street explosion that left three people dead and over 30 others injured on September 2, Labor Day of 1991, we’re going back in time, and back in our archives, to take a look at some of the firsthand accounts from the gas-related blast.
In the September 6, 1991 issue of the Home Reporter and Sunset News, “six pages of exclusive news and photos” were dedicated to the story. Individual tales of heroism, both applauding civilians and first responders, fill the pages of the 50 cent paper (the same price an issue will cost you today), along with some of the details of what happened that Monday.
“Several residents told officials they smelled gas moments before the blast,” reporter Paula Katinas writes in the 1991 story “Say Gas Leak Caused Deadly 86 St. Blast.” “According to a published report, an official stated that one of the building’s residents may have illegally tapped into a gas line, causing a buildup of natural gas which led to the explosion.”