Construction blasts send rock through Raleigh roof
A rock fell from the sky with so much force, it punched a hole through the roof of a Raleigh home.
Pictures and video from the homeowner, Bobby Pittman, show daylight shining through a baseball-sized hole with splintered edges and a rock resting on an HVAC duct inside the attic.
“A rock coming out of the sky like that, that’d pretty much kill you if it hit you,” Pittman said.
He explained that East Coast Drilling & Blasting paid to repair the hole in his roof. That company has been blasting at the Tucker Place development site which borders Pittman’s neighborhood.
“You could always hear, the house would be shaking, like a little miniature earthquake,” Pittman said about the blasting.
Pittman’s home is two rows back from Tucker Place, meaning the rock that pierced his home likely traveled several hundred feet from the construction site – over a tree line, a row of houses and a neighborhood street before reaching Pittman’s house.
5 On Your Side learned of at least two other homes that also suffered roof damage, including Ed and Danielle Parsons'.
We first spoke with the Parsonses in 2023 about the blasting operation by East Coast Drilling & Blasting. They shared more than a dozen surveillance videos of explosions that rattled their home and dust clouds that coated their property.
The videos showed large sections of earth lifting into the air when those explosions were set off, but Danielle Parsons said it was truly something you had to experience in person to understand.
"The video doesn’t do any justice to what we felt multiple times a day for months," Parsons said.
The Parsonses say new damage was discovered at their home since 5 On Your Side's first report: The roof was compromised from where a rock apparently landed on it from the blasting site, drywall cracked and separated at multiple spots inside the home and countertops and cabinets started pulling away from the wall in the kitchen.
Ed Parsons says after some back and forth, East Coast Drilling & Blasting eventually agreed to cover those repairs too.
However, there are serious safety questions about how this damage is happening.
Rock being thrown from the construction site onto neighboring properties and structures appears to be a violation of East Coast's blasting permit with the City of Raleigh.
5 On Your Side also obtained seismograph readings from the Parsons' and other neighbors' properties. That data showed 22 seismic events registered when East Coast did not have a permit to blast.
Our team called and emailed East Coast Drilling & Blasting about this; they told us over the phone "no comment."
East Coast had a similar incident in 2018 when they set off a blast at a Durham construction site and a rock crashed through the roof and attic of a home, finally coming to rest in an upstairs dining area.
East Coast had their permit revoked after that 2018 incident in Durham, but the City of Raleigh has not taken any action against the blasting company for the damage caused near the Tucker Place site.
We reached out to the City of Raleigh and provided pictures of damage, dates of alleged blasting violations and asked if there has been or would be any action taken by the Raleigh Fire Department, which issues the blasting permit.
A city spokeswoman told us in part:
"We were made aware of the situation regarding East Coast Drilling and Blasting and the resident after the homeowner contacted elected officials last summer.
Raleigh Fire Inspectors were assigned to oversee the blasting process beginning July 24, 2023, after hearing concerns from neighbors. Inspectors identified no violation of the permit while on site.
The Raleigh Fire Department does not rely on seismograph data when monitoring permits. It is not 100% reliable and can pick up vibrations not related to blasting, for example, planes flying overhead."
Pittman said the damage to his roof happened in October, which would have been while Raleigh Fire inspectors were on site.
And even if RFD believes seismograph data isn't reliable, the permit requires the blaster to record each blast, keep those records for five years and make them available to the Fire Marshal upon request.
5 On Your Side asked if anyone from the City or Fire Marshal's office requested blast records during the time that the blasting company did not hold an active permit for blasting operations, but they did not answer that question.
"I think really there's no control," Ed Parsons said.
We're told blasting is now finished at the Tucker Place site, but both Parsons and Pittman say they wish the blasting company was more careful, communicated better about what they were doing and that there was more oversight from the city.
"Rocks flying into a neighborhood, a nice quiet neighborhood. Rocks flying could hit people and like I said, do more damage than what it did to my roof," Pittman said.
5 On Your Side did also reach out to the developer, KB Homes. They told us: "The incident was recently brought to our attention, and we understand that it has been resolved by the contractor to the satisfaction of the neighbors involved.”
They also provided a statement from Paul Cypher with East Coast Blasting & Drilling: “The homes that had roof damage were all reported and repaired by East Coast Blasting and Drilling and to the homeowner’s satisfaction.”
If there is blasting near your home, some municipalities require the blaster to offer a pre-blast inspection of structures located within 500 feet of the proposed blast location.
Ed Parsons said he did get that pre-blasting inspection, and it was critical in negotiating damage repairs with the blasting company.
Even if you aren't offered an inspection, it may be worth spending the money to get one on your own.
Warning sirens have to be sounded before a blast; when you hear it, get inside. If you don't think you're getting the proper notification before a blast, contact the blasting company and whoever holds their permit.
