A blast so powerful that it ripped away bricks from a Detroit apartment building on Monday and injured a dozen people, including six children, is under investigation, as demolition crews try to stabilize the structure.
At least two of those harmed were hospitalized in critical condition, fire officials said.
It also triggered emergency cellphone alerts throughout metro Detroit.
Officials told the Free Press that everyone seemed to have been evacuated from the 12-unit west-side Detroit structure based on thermal imaging from drones, but what’s left of the building will need to be demolished.
The explosion went off at about 4 a.m. in the 13000 block of Littlefield Street on the city’s west side, according to fire officials and TV news crews reporting from the scene early Monday.
Detroit Fire Commissioner Charles Simms told reporters in a news briefing that if not for the fast-acting rescue crews, the injuries — and damage — could have been far worse.
When firefighters arrived, Simms said, some residents were preparing to jump out of second-story windows, but the first responders were able to safely rescue them and take the badly burned residents to hospitals for treatment.
Among those injured: a 30-year-old man with severe burns to nearly all his body, a 27-year-old woman, who is in critical condition, and a 3-year-old girl, who also was harmed in the fire.
One of the apartment building’s supporting walls looked as if it was bowed out and ready to collapse.
It was initially unclear, however, what exactly caused the blast.
Some speculated it was a natural gas leak.
DTE Energy, which supplies gas to the building and was on hand after the explosion, said it could not confirm whether there was a leak, but shut off gas to the building at the fire department’s request as a safety precaution.
Usually, the utility said, if there is a leak, someone will smell the gas and call 911.
In November, authorities said a massive explosion was suspected to be caused by a natural gas leak that leveled two condominiums and heavily damaged more than a dozen others in Orion Township, sending two people to the hospital with serious injuries.
Monday’s explosion also set off a Wireless Emergency Alerts system alarm, part of America’s emergency preparedness system, at about 6 a.m. The cell phone warnings are issued for dangerous weather, missing children, and other disaster situations.
The alert, fire officials said, was supposed to go out to people only in the nearby neighborhoods, but was mistakenly sent to phone customers throughout metro Detroit, some of whom said they lived in the suburbs and were upset.
Residents with rescue escorts were able to retrieve some of their belongings and in addition to firefighters and police, homeland security officials were on hand to investigate the blast.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This story was updated with new information.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Powerful apartment building explosion injures 12, including children, in Detroit
Reporting by Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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