Builders may soon erect a new home on one of the plots left vacant for two years after a 2023 Rustic Ridge house explosion in Plum that left six people dead.

The land formerly occupied by the home at 143 Rustic Ridge Drive, which was leveled after sustaining enormous damage as a result of the explosion, was purchased last month by Quality Homes USA LLC for $45,000. The Plum-based business is registered to Patricia Grasinger, a local real estate agent.

Grasinger told TribLive the company hopes to build a “spec” home, a pre-built house without a set buyer, at the site next year.

She didn’t offer any further details.

The site was was owned by Harrison and Kelly Smith at the time of the explosion next door. Real estate records show the parcel then passing to David and Alexis Zacchia in November 2024 for $43,000 before it was sold to Quality Homes last month.

Lawsuits filed this summer by the families of those killed in the blast allege a failure to vent an overpressurized gas line or repair an “unchecked” leak from a 2.5-inch gash in an underground pipe led to the Aug. 12, 2023, disaster, which destroyed the Smith home and two others and damaged a dozen more.

Heather Oravitz, 51, Plum’s director of community development, died that day. Her husband, Paul, 56, an ultrasound sonographer, died four days later.

Also killed on the day of the blast were four friends and neighbors who had been in the Oravitz home: Michael Thomas, 57, Plum’s borough manager; Kevin Sebunia, 55, a sales consultant; and father and son Casey Clontz, 38, and Keegan Clontz, 12.

Several more lawsuits were filed soon after by nearby neighbors, including the Smiths.

Harrison and Kelly Smith both suffered “bodily impact” as a result of the explosion, according to their complaint. Harrison, who had been performing yard work that morning, was launched across his backyard, and Kelly, pregnant at the time, was also moved while sitting in her living room with her 2-year-old, the complaint said.

The two also continue to suffer emotional distress, according to the complaint.

Among the several companies and people named in the suits is Grasinger Homes Inc., the Plum developer that sold and built homes in the Rustic Ridge residential development.

Michelle Grasinger, a real estate agent with the family-run firm, said Quality Homes USA LLC and Patricia Grasinger, her sister-in-law, have no relation to the company.

Real estate records don’t show any change in ownership at the two other plots left vacant by the explosion.

It remains unclear exactly when construction might begin on the the potential new home.

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