SOUTH PORTLAND (AP) – Neighbors on the street where an explosion leveled a two-story house were allowed to return home Tuesday, but they’ll have to do without natural gas service for the time being.

Residents of the Knightville neighborhood were told that the street will be torn up this week while natural gas lines are replaced.

The explosion, which happened around 9:40 a.m. Monday, blew the exterior stairs off a building, shook nearby homes, shattered a few windows and sent debris into the air. No one was injured, officials said.

Investigators are trying to sort out why the empty house filled with natural gas and exploded after construction work ruptured a natural gas line. Many neighbors also want to know why they weren’t evacuated before the blast.

Most residents were allowed to return home Monday night, and those on the street where the explosion occurred were allowed back Tuesday.

“We have moved from the operational stage to the investigation stage,” said Robb Couture, spokesman for the South Portland Fire Department. “We are focused now on determining a cause, how the building filled up with gas, and what the ignition source was.”

Risbara Bros. Construction, a contractor hired by the Portland Water District, was replacing a water main beneath D Street, and the explosion happened about an hour after a worker using a backhoe clipped an underground gas line.

Risbara workers plugged the broken line and notified Northern Utilities and the South Portland Fire Department, which is standard procedure.

There were no evacuations because the leak caused by the backhoe was contained, and gas levels were determined to be normal at nearby properties, Couture said.

In fact, a South Portland fire truck had left the area before the explosion.

“The whole building shook, and debris was falling down in our building,” said Sarah Rawlings from Volunteers of America, an organization located next door. The blast tore the fire-escape stairs off the Volunteers of America building.

Rawlings said people should’ve been evacuated. “They let people remain in the adjacent buildings,” she said. “I think that is irresponsible.”

Afterward, officials did proceed to evacuate dozens of homes and businesses. Workers spent several hours looking through the rubble before finding and capping the ruptured line around 3:15 p.m.

Phil Notis, a member of the trust that owns the destroyed building, said contractors had been preparing the house to be rented. “It’s unbelievable. We were about ready to rent,” Notis said. “We’re very fortunate that no one was working.”

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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com

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