Ex-homeowner stunned by Brentwood blast

Donna Soto gazed Monday at the ruins of her former home in Brentwood, which was destroyed in an explosion on Easter, and thought about her children and grandchildren.

"My babies would have been in caskets" if the family had not moved from the house two months ago, Soto said after visiting the site on Fourth Street.

She said she had lived in the home for 16 years and raised three children there.

At the time of the move, Soto, 53, was living in the home with two of her children, two grandchildren and two other adults. Were it not for mortgage payments that Soto said she could no longer afford, they might still have been living there on Sunday.

"There would have been seven bodies if we had been there," said Soto, who now lives in Bay Shore. "Forget about being awed. It's beyond awe."

Investigators believe the blast was caused by a gas leak inside the vacant house, said Sgt. George White of the Suffolk Arson Squad. Monday, arson investigators had not determined what caused the leak, White said.

Soto had sold the house to a realty company, Millennium Homes. A person who answered the phone there Monday said, "No comment" and declined to identify herself.

National Grid had visited the house two weeks ago after a report of a gas smell, said spokeswoman Wendy Ladd. A crew replaced a gas regulator outside the house that caused the leak, she said.

After the explosion Sunday, the regulator was inspected again and determined to be working properly, Ladd said.

The explosion rocked the neighborhood and damaged some nearby homes. Four families -- a total of 10 people -- were displaced by the blast, said Elizabeth Barker, director of emergency services for the Suffolk chapter of the American Red Cross. They were staying in shelters or with families or friends, she said, adding it was unclear when repairs would be completed that would allow them to return home.

The close call left Soto shaken but grateful she and her family were alive. "I can't absorb it yet," she said.

She recalled falling down the stairs at the house and hurting herself so badly that she no longer could work as a teacher's aide in the Brentwood School District. But mostly she had happy memories of bushes blooming at the house in early spring.

"That's the time I looked forward to, when the azaleas blossomed," Soto said. "Now it's just gone."