POTTSTOWN, Pa. – Tuesday marks the fourth anniversary of a deadly house explosion in Montgomery County.

Four children and their grandmother died, and to this day, there is still no official explanation of how the explosion on Hale St. in Pottstown happened. The victims were identified as 67-year-old Francine White, 13-year-old Alana Wood, 12-year-old Jeremiah White, 10-year-old Nehemiah White, and 8-year-old Tristan White.

Stan Banks lives right across from the site of the explosion. Four years isn’t enough time for him to forget that day.

“It still bothers me,” said Banks.

He was home on that day, May 26th, 2022. He ran outside when he heard the explosion and found two young victims in the street.

“I checked for a pulse, and I couldn’t get a pulse from either one of them,” said Banks.

Four years later, Banks and his neighbors still don’t know why it happened. The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms told 69 News in a statement:

“We have not completed our investigation yet. We are awaiting results of further testing at the site.”

But Banks said there were warning signs before the blast.

“We had been smelling gas for a couple years I guess, but PECO would come out and say it wasn’t their line,” said Banks.

Pottstown Mayor Stephanie Henrick said Banks is on to something.

“I’m fairly sure the cause was natural gas,” said Henrick. “If it wasn’t PECO, what are the other options we’re looking at?”

Several homeowners in the neighborhood are now suing PECO for damages.

But in 2023, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission said its investigation found “no evidence that public utility natural gas service contributed to that deadly event.”

In a statement to 69 News, PECO said in part:

“We agree with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s conclusion, which found no evidence that public utility natural gas service contributed to this incident… Therefore, PECO is vigorously defending itself in the lawsuit.”

And still the site remains, damaged and undeveloped. An open wound the community is still waiting to heal.

“They would like to have closure as to what happened, why it happened. They lost their whole family,” said Banks.

“It seems like it shouldn’t be this hard to get an answer,” said Henrick.