MASSILLON ‒ The Stark County Coroner’s office says it will have to do additional testing to confirm the identity of a person who was killed the afternoon of Oct. 3 when a detached garage exploded.
The explosion, which could be heard at least half a mile away, took place shortly before 3:18 p.m. at 17th Street NE and Lindbergh Avenue NE, the coroner’s office said. Firefighters responded and found a body amid a large smoking pile of rubble on fire.
No one else was injured. The garage was destroyed.
The person was apparently in the garage by himself when he was killed, Massillon Fire Chief Matt Heck said. Heck said it was too early to say what caused the explosion.
“The investigation is just getting started,” Heck said.
He added the explosion did cause minor damage to some surrounding homes, including broken windows.
Harry Campbell, the coroner’s chief investigator, said his office was treating the case as a fire death. He said the body has been transported to the Stark County morgue. A full external examination and X-rays will be performed on Oct. 6. The office will then decide whether to send the body to Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. Campbell declined to say what testing would be done to identify the body.
He said a couple of family members who lived in the house, which sustained minor damage, were away at the time of the explosion.
Heck said the state fire marshal and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were taking part in the investigation with Massillon fire investigators and Massillon police officers as to the cause of the explosion.
Investigators could be seen looking at the debris pile hours after the explosion. ATF agents showed up around 6 p.m.
Lisa Eggenschwiler said she was in her 18th Street NE home when she heard the explosion.
“I just heard a big boom, and my big pictures fell off (the walls),” she said. “I went outside and saw the black smoke. … Well, it was kind of scary.”
She saw debris had flown across Lindbergh Avenue.
Edward Marsh, who lives near the home, said he was at a nail salon in the nearby Target plaza when he heard the explosion.
“It shook the nail salon,” Marsh said. “I originally thought it was an air conditioner breaking on the roof.”
No one was in the nearby home at the time. Surrounding homes were damaged by the explosion, with broken windows.
Authorities placed a blue tarp to prevent onlookers from seeing into an area of the backyard, where some debris could be seen.
Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as additional information is made available.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Person killed when garage explodes Friday in Massillon. Authorities investigating cause
Reporting by Robert Wang, Canton Repository / The Repository
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