Dianne Metzger is living in a camper with her husband and four children in a backyard in Peach Bottom. It is so small she can spread out her arms and touch the walls.

"We're just going to be a family wherever we can, at the moment," she said.

Neighbor George Noe is staying with his granddaughter on Cabbage Hill until his home is fixed up. The blast that leveled a carwash on Friday shattered eight windows, rattled the dishes from his cabinets and threw the 83-year-old West Virginia native from his bed.

"If I had to move out, I'd need a lot of help," Noe said. "I've been here 30 years. I'm glued."

The explosion that destroyed the business just south of Lancaster city damaged a number of nearby homes in the Engleside Mobile Home Park. But just how severe the damage was didn't become clear until now.

Inspectors from West Lampeter Township found evidence of structural damage to five of the homes and posted condemnation notices on the front doors Tuesday.

The declaration makes it illegal for the owners to enter their homes without a building code official, forcing more than half a dozen residents to find shelter elsewhere.

Many had already begun to do so and have moved in with family or friends. But Noe and at least one other resident had been sticking it out, living amid the shattered glass and crumbling walls of their mobile homes until the "UNSAFE STRUCTURE" notices were posted two days ago.

"It is a really unfortunate situation, but the trailers had to be inspected due to the explosion," said township manager Dee Dee McGuire.

The mobile home owners, who do not have insurance, will soon be getting letters spelling out what, specifically, needs to be fixed to bring their homes back up to code.

But it could be months before they see any money from insurers of the carwash at 1004 Willow Street Pike, just south of the bridge over the Conestoga River. Police continue to investigate the cause of the explosion.

No one was physically injured in the 3:30 a.m. blast, but the explosion was especially traumatic for the Metzger family, whose four children — sons ages 6 and 9, and daughters ages 10 and 12 — have autism spectrum disorders.

"We are all missing our home. We were very accustomed to our own comforts," said Metzger, who is 43. "Now we're trying to live a lifestyle that's a whole lot different. We're back to starting all over. I think, for my kids, it's harder for them. They're way out of their schedule. They have routines, and their routine is so far gone.

"We have a long road."

Several local autism support groups have begun efforts to help the family and today are donating $1,000. They're also looking to provide meals, clothing, child care and other support for the Metzgers.

"We're all parents of children who are on the autism spectrum. I just put myself in their place," said Sugey Cruz-Everts, president of the Tommy Foundation for Autism. "I couldn't imagine ever being displaced with our child, and we only have one. It was something that personally called on us to do something."

The groups set up an account for the Metzgers at Fulton Bank. Donations can be made at any Fulton location; checks should be made out to The Metzger Family Relief Fund. Donations also are being accepted online by The Tommy Foundation for Autism at www.tommyland.org/metzger.

Also helping out and contributing money to the family are Lancaster County Autism Mommies and the Autism Spectrum Connection.

"I have a child with autism and I have been displaced from my home for water damage. I know the amount of stress that created on my family," said Shelly Koch, the president and founder of Lancaster County Autism Mommies. "It's unimaginable for me to think about the stress on four children. It's heartbreaking."

Donations of canned goods and packaged food are being accepted at the Schreiber Pediatric Rehabilitation Center, 625 Community Way; Susquehanna Bank — Willow Street Office, 200 Willow Valley Lakes Drive; and Saturday's Market — East End at the Autism Stand, 3751 E. Harrisburg Pike Middletown.

Donations of grocery, discount store, restaurant and gas gift cards can be mailed to LCAM, PO Box 141, Elizabethtown PA 17022.

The Metzgers left their home on Friday, after being told verbally that it was uninhabitable. Since then, they've been living in her brother-in-law's backyard, in a camper that is supposed to sleep only four.

To re-establish some sense of normalcy, she has been able to return to work. And her children have begun spending the summer days with their aunt in Lancaster, just like they used to do.

"They're very clingy right now," Metzger said of her children. "It's not easy to explain to them. We just keep reassuring them that it was an accident, and unfortunately, the accident affected us.

"That mobile home might not have been much but it was our whole world."

tmurse@lnpnews.com