Westland fire officials are investigating a violent, natural gas explosion this week that blew apart a small, unoccupied house the night of May 5, sending a loud boom and shockwaves throughout the neighborhood.
It was the latest metro Detroit gas explosion in the past two months.
The blast, at the 800-square-foot home in the 3100 block of Calhoun Court, went off just before 7 p.m., the chief said, adding no one was inside, and as a result, there were no injuries.
Fire investigators were still sifting through the rubble May 6 to try to determine how the explosion started, Fire Chief Darrell Stampler said, but there was no doubt that the blast was caused by natural gas.
“We don’t have everything figured out yet because there hadn’t been anybody in that home,” the chief told the Free Press. “They were doing a remodel of the house, but there hadn’t been anybody in there for at least a couple of weeks.”
There was also no furniture in the home, he said, which likely mitigated the blast’s damage.
In television reports, neighbors described the blast as a flicker of light and a loud kaboom.
Neighbor Shayla Juarez told WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) that young children had been living in the home and “it would’ve been very devastating if someone was in there,” adding “it would’ve been a really sad situation.”
In late March, a blast in a Detroit apartment building injured a dozen people, including six children, and made national news. It was caused by a natural gas leak. At least two of those harmed were hospitalized in critical condition, fire officials said.
And a few days later, a gas explosion in the tight-knit community of Southgate destroyed one house, leaving almost nothing standing, and set another home on fire.
The couple who lived in the home that was destroyed — a 37-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man — were badly burned and rushed to the hospital for treatment. The woman, however, died from her injuries.
Gas leaks, Westland’s fire chief said, are nothing to trifle with, and he urged anyone who might smell gas not to hesitate to act, even if they aren’t sure. He added that if that happens, all the occupants should get out and call 911.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Fire officials sift through rubble of Westland gas explosion
Reporting by Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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