Crescent Township police are thanking the Columbia Gas employee who rushed to the scene of Tuesday's deadly home explosion to shut off the gas. “That’s what I’ve been trained to do the majority of my life,” Larry Byrge said.Miles away from the scene, Larry Byrge says he felt the blast and drove straight to it, knowing the gas would need to be shut off immediately. He was on the job in Coraopolis.The smoke led Byrge to the deadly scene along Riverview Road in Crescent Township.“It is very devastating, but training kicks in and you just do what you’ve got to do and do your job,” Byrge said.Byrge has worked for Columbia Gas for 45 years. He said he knows the area well and knew immediately when he arrived at the scene that it was the home of David and Helen Mitchell, who used a private well.“It’s been years ago, but yes, I did meet them before and actually did speak with them about his gas well,” Byrge said.He took off running through the debris and into the woods to find the well and shut it off to avoid any secondary explosions or fires potentially sparked by the gas well. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.“He went straight into the aftermath while it was still a threat,” Crescent Township Police Chief Frank Marks said. “Thank you. You know, he ensured everybody’s safety and it’s commendable what he did, especially that scene at that time.”Byrge said he was just doing his job.“I focus on my job and safety and safety of the community and people around it. I didn’t really give it a whole lot of thought, just went in and did what I thought needed to be done,” Byrge said.Marks also thanked the many local businesses who donated food to feed first responders on the scene, including McDonald's and Scooch's Pizza in Hopewell, Hangar Restaurant in Moon Township, and Mission Barbecue in Robinson Township.