DESPITE assurances from National Grid Gas that the explosion was not caused by gas, residents remain unconvinced.
Father-of-three Paul Redmond, 47, who owns 25 Stanley Avenue, next to the three wrecked houses, said: "Gas is my concern, but I'm hoping I'm wrong.
"There has been the occasional smell of gas in the area in the past year and when we have had visitors they have often commented on it, but it didn't seem bad enough to report.
"There has been talk of an attack with a purple liquid which smelled like rotten eggs but often people mis-take gas for an egg smell.
"It could have been a gas smell and I think someone should come in and do an independent inquiry."
His concerns are shared by John Pearson, 55, whose 35-year-old son, also called John, was seriously burned in another explosion - definitely caused by gas - at Annan Court on the Rayners Lane Estate on February 15.
The incidents occured just 800m and three months apart. The elder Mr Pearson visited the scene of the Stanley Road blast on Saturday and drew his own conclusions.
"It was very definitely a gas explosion," he said.
"Someone I spoke to said they had smelled gas in the area for about a year. His supply and my son's flat were both installed about a year and a half ago.
"It's just too coincidental. They could be connected in some way. I think there should be an outside inquiry into what happened - a meeting of people in South Harrow, because nobody knows who is going to be next."
Dan Llywelwyn Hall, 27, who lives in Stanley Road, remarked: "Before this happened, there were reports of gas leaks for months."
National Grid Gas, formerly Transco, stood by an earlier statement that they tested the mains around 21 Stanley Road and "found no trace of a gas leak".
A different gas transfer company altogether maintains the pipes that feed Annan Court.
Asked if there had been any emergency call-outs to Stanley Road during the past year, a spokeswoman replied: "We have had no issues with Stanley Road."
