Leader-Herald/Harold F. Laird An explosion caused considerable damage at the Crown Leather plant in Johnstown.

JOHNSTOWN -- An explosion that caused considerable damage to the Crown Leather Finishing Company at 422 North Perry Street early this morning also shook many homes in the area and caused the fire and police departments to be flooded with telephone calls reporting the incident.

The two departments received the first calls almost simultaneously at 3:05 this morning, reporting an explosion in the North Perry Street area, north of Townsend Avenue.

Firemen went to the scene and found that an explosion had occurred at the Crown Leather Finishing Company where a water return tank behind one of the boilers at the plant had blown apart and through the east wall of the building.

There was no fire at the scene, but the plant's sprinkler system had been torn out in the boiler-room area and water was streaming out of the open pipes in the boiler room, the staking-machine room and the drum room.

The electrical system in the area of the explosion was also torn out and firemen immediately began shutting off main power supplies and the water system.

The owner of the company, Anthony Maceyka, was also notified and firemen remained at the scene until workmen arrived to begin repairs on the electrical system.

Fire Chief William H. La Voie reported this morning that the cause of the explosion has not yet been determined, but an investigation is being conducted by the fire department, state boiler inspectors and insurance agents.

The fire chief said that when the water return tank blew, one end of it flew in a northerly direction and went through the north wall of the boiler room into the drum room.

The rest of the tank flew in a southerly direction and west through the south wall of the boiler room into the staking room and caused damage to staking machines in that area.

The force of the explosion caused the rear wall of the building, facing east, to collapse and the roof over the entire area was raised from the cement-block walls.

The roof over the immediate area of the explosion collapsed, the chief noted, and the boiler room was filled with debris from the collapsed section of the roof.

No one was reported at the plant when the explosion occurred. The morning shift does not begin until 5 in the morning and workmen do not usually begin arriving until about 4:30.

Several residents of the area told police and firemen that the explosion figuratively "blew them out of bed."