Community gathers for vigil honoring house explosion victims in Plum
Aug. 14—The power of prayer united strangers and friends Monday during a daylong candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the house explosion Saturday in Plum's Rustic Ridge neighborhood.
Holy Family Parish's St. Januarius Church on Renton Road in Plum hosted the vigil from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
"We just really wanted a quiet, personal prayer time for people. This has really destroyed a lot of people's hearts and minds about what has happened," said the Rev. Kevin G. Poecking.
Saturday's house explosion along Rustic Ridge Drive killed five people, caused multiple injuries, sparked subsequent fires that leveled two other homes and damaged more than a dozen homes, according to authorities.
Pat Kaczmarski wiped away tears as she exited the church after praying alongside her husband, Stan.
"Our hearts are breaking for our neighbors. We hope they will feel the love of Christ through our community, and we will do whatever we can to help them," she said.
The Kaczmarskis, former Holy Family Parish members, said they're in shock, and the photos of the devastation from Saturday's explosion remind them of hurricane damage.
"We survived a Category 5 hurricane in Biloxi, Miss. Everything is gone, nothing is identifiable," Pat Kaczmarski said.
"It just shows you how fragile life is," Stan said. "Prayer is so important right now. Not only to help the people who died but the neighbors who have to live with the memory and impact on the whole community."
Poecking stressed the need for spiritual havens during times of crisis.
"There's a lot of people having outreach efforts with supplies, needs and temporal matters, but we thought it would be good to offer some spiritual support, as well," he said.
The explosion in Rustic Ridge is the third such incident in 15 years in the borough.
Pat Kaczmarski spotted her friend Nancy Gimbel on Monday outside the church. They hugged tightly, comforted each other among tears, all the while trying to process the events of the past few days.
"So many of the deceased are from our parish," Gimbel said. "I didn't know them personally. We're devastated. We have other parishioners who live in that neighborhood. It's a really important neighborhood in our parish."
Poecking declined to comment Monday on whether any of the dead were members of Holy Family Parish.
For Gimbel, a Plum resident for 43 years, attending the vigil provided an opportunity to pray for the profound grief everyone is feeling.
"I think of how the people around who weren't killed — they're going to have symptoms of PTSD and our church will be involved in that as a healing place for all these people," Gimbel said. "It's really profoundly sad."
Darlene Hudak of Plum knows three residents of the Rustic Ridge neighborhood.
Hudak, 22, said she's uncertain if her acquaintances are OK because one of her texts from the weekend has gone unanswered.
"I really don't know. I feel terrible. It's a horrific thing that happened," she said.
Hudak prayed inside, in silence amid six lit candles, five red ones honoring those who were killed in the blast.
"I just came to pay my respects. We're a small-knit, but nice community," Hudak said.
About 20 people showed up at the church to pray around noon.
Inside the sanctuary, the silence was interrupted by occasional sobs and the ringing of the church bells.
Holy Family Parish will host a Holy Hour For Rustic Ridge at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
The hour will offer songs, prayers and quiet time. All are welcome, Poecking said.
"We need to continue to pray and support everyone," he said.
Joyce Hanz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joyce by email at jhanz@triblive.com or via Twitter .
