"We are working side by side with the Dominion East Ohio Gas Company to find out what happened," Cleveland Fire Department spokesman Larry Gray told WKYC.
Gray did not think the investigation would yield an answer on Tuesday.
Investigators were concentrating on the basement of the abandoned home that was obliterated by Monday afternoon's explosion. The gas meter, located in the basement, had been shut off last Thursday by the gas company.
"We were out here Thursday, January 21, with the Cleveland Fire Department in response to an odor complaint," said Neil Durbin, of Dominion East Ohio. "We made the property safe and then we left the scene after that was done.
Durbin tells WKYC gas company crews shut off the gas at the meter in the basement. What might have happened between Thursday and Monday he could not say.
Cleveland City Councilman Matt Zone thinks scrappers, who had been pulling out nearly every piece of metal from the abandoned house, might have returned between Thursday and Monday and done some kind of damage that would have let gas leak back into the house.
Zone also announced that local community groups have banded together to provide relief to the 22 families who remained out of their homes Tuesday night. At least three families were provided temporary living quarters by the Detroit Shoreway Development Corporation.
"Detroit Shoreway is rallying for these victims as a community," Zone told WKYC. "We will soon announce a special fund, as many of the people displaced had no insurance, and some may never be able to return to their homes."
Zone said that, until a formal fund is established, most likely on Wednesday, people could contact the Detroit Shoreway Community Development organization at (216) 961-4242 to make a donation.
He named several other groups that have agreed to help in relief efforts, including Habitat for Humanity, the West Side Ecumenical Ministries (WSEM), and the Mae Dugan Community Center.
The city and the gas company were going door to door on Tuesday to inspect homes which had been damaged and which had their gas service cut off as a precaution.
As of late Tuesday afternoon, none of those homes had their natural gas service restored.
Many of the homes also had no electricity.
WKYC-TV