ATTLEBORO

At 10:04 a.m. on March 4, 1998, a boom echoed across Attleboro and beyond.

It was heard and felt miles away. Residents reported their windows rattled and their houses shook.

People who were as far away as Briggs Corner said the concussion was so strong they thought a truck had hit their house.

The explosion was caused by natural gas igniting in the basement of a house on George Street. The house was obliterated by the blast.

Two residents and five city highway department employees who were working at the site were injured.

Worse, two other workers were killed.

Larry Poncin and Bernie Hewitt were popular and well-known city employees who had volunteered as coaches in youth baseball.

Their deaths and the explosion cast a pall over the city that those looking back on the events said was not lifted until the high school basketball team won the state championship nearly two weeks later.

Judith Robbins, who was mayor of the city at the time, said people were terribly shaken and a depression seemed to hang over Attleboro until the team won the title.

"I think human beings are resilient by nature. People are programmed to bounce back. But, the city was fortunate that something so good and so exciting happened when it did," she said.

Robbins said the celebration after the championship was probably bigger than it might otherwise have been because residents wanted to feel good again.

The city put up road signs trumpeting the victory. Rallies and parades were held.

When Nobel Prize winner Jody Williams spoke at Attleboro High School, she did so wearing an Attleboro basketball jersey. Fire Capt. Keith Jackson, who was one of the first on the scene of destruction on George Street, said he felt the basketball team was a welcome diversion from the grieving.

Until the championship, everywhere he went all people wanted to talk about was the explosion.

"It was tough to get away from it. You couldn't go anywhere without people asking 'What was it like?' People needed some good news," he said.

The players on that 1998 team said they were mostly focused on basketball, but were well aware of the explosion and the uplifting impact they were having on the city.

"Bernie Hewitt was a neighbor of mine," said Jason Smith, a senior guard on the team. "He lived across the street from me. His wife was my babysitter.

"When it happened, it really hit home. I know I was out here playing for him."

Derek Swenson, a high-scoring junior on the team, said the healing effect the team had on the city made the championship all the sweeter.

"A lot of people said we brought the city together, and I think there's some truth to that," he said.

Robbins said the explosion and the deaths emotionally hurt people across the city, even those who did not know Poncin and Hewitt.

People were having trouble coming to terms with the fact that something so terrible had happened in their safe hometown, she said.

"I think the whole city was shocked. We all thought 'This is not a place where bad things happen,' " she said.

Robbins said the tragedy hit her on both a professional and personal level.

Larry Poncin was a friend and had been in her office just three days before he died, talking about his recent stint in the Army Reserve.

As mayor, Robbins said, she felt an enormous weight on her to help the city through the tragedy.

"All I could think of is the city I am responsible for is hurting," she said.

Even children were shaken by the events.

Teachers at the time reported that youngsters were drawing pictures of their houses exploding, always a sign that children are troubled.

Children asked parents if it could happen to them.

"Children got very scared," Robbins said. "Adults could understand why it happened. Children could not."

Robbins said another event that helped the city come to terms with the deaths was the creation of a new athletic facility off Oakhill Avenue that was named after Poncin and Hewitt.

It is gratifying to know the beautiful tree-lined site is dedicated in their memory and that residents call the place "Poncin-Hewitt" field, she said.

Public places are often named after notable people, but the names are not commonly used, she said.

The formal name of the city library is Joseph Sweet Memorial Library, but nobody calls it that, she said.

"It feels good to know Larry Poncin and Bernie Hewitt are remembered. It's nice that their names didn't just disappear," she said.