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Explosion levels Chandler home, damages others

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Posted: Monday, January 30, 2012 12:47 pm | Updated: 9:06 am, Fri Feb 3, 2012.

Nearly 100 calls flooded a 911 dispatch center and an orange glow and smoky haze could be seen from miles away moments after a Chandler home was destroyed by an explosion late Sunday.

Investigators are calling the incident suspicious and are now sifting through debris where the home stood in the 2300 block of East Boston Street. The explosion was felt at least two miles away at McQueen and Ray Roads, according to police, and left a neighboring house heavily damaged while cracking windows of homes across the street.

No one was at the single-story wood-frame home, and no injuries occurred as a result. The home's occupant returned after the explosion happened and appeared surprised to see his home leveled, said Detective Seth Tyler, a Chandler police spokesman.

A woman who was inside the home that was damaged next door was able to get out of it, Tyler said.

Members of the Maricopa County Task Force are on the scene trying to pinpoint a cause currently are being tight-lipped about the investigation.

There's no gas service in the neighborhood, so the explosion, which caused debris to be blown onto roofs of nearby homes, makes it more suspicious, Tyler said.

"This is pretty significant," Tyler said. "Houses just don't explode. We're trying to find out why it happened and the motive."

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10 comments:

  • davidflucier posted at 6:31 am on Tue, Jan 31, 2012.

    davidflucier Posts: 184

    OK...let's say gas is ruled out, that leaves at least three other possibilities: a meth lab, a bomb making facility or illegal storage of highly volatile and explosive materials.

    BTW, potential criminal investigations are rarely open to public view.

     
  • Juggernaut8000 posted at 5:44 am on Tue, Jan 31, 2012.

    Juggernaut8000 Posts: 576

    It wouldn't matter which gas it was, unless it was allowed to accumulate in the home or a storage tank had the pressure relief defeated, the LPG/propane wouldn't cause this type of blast.

    Not that any of us will be privy to the investigation that our tax dollars paid for to find out anyways...

     
  • Slabside posted at 7:37 pm on Mon, Jan 30, 2012.

    Slabside Posts: 1713

    Why yes Captain, I have heard of propane (aka liquified petroleum gas or LPG). You bleated ignorantly "natural gas" which is a completely different substance.
    Want another cyber slapping there Captain?

     
  • Dale Whiting posted at 7:00 pm on Mon, Jan 30, 2012.

    Dale Whiting Posts: 3705

    Slabside,

    Ever heard of propane? Apparently not!

     
  • Slabside posted at 6:03 pm on Mon, Jan 30, 2012.

    Slabside Posts: 1713

    I've lived in my neighborhood since it was new... 31 years. No natural gas availble. Unless you consider what I emit [wink].

     
  • eveyreborn posted at 4:47 pm on Mon, Jan 30, 2012.

    eveyreborn Posts: 3

    Since when does that neighborhood not have gas service? I live a quarter mile from these guys and someone should tell my gas company that they don't exist.

     
  • Slabside posted at 4:38 pm on Mon, Jan 30, 2012.

    Slabside Posts: 1713

    The story says, "There's no gas service in the neighborhood, so the explosion, which caused debris to be blown onto roofs of nearby homes, makes it more suspicious, Tyler said."

    Captain Neo-Con says, "one would begin by examining such things as a leak in a natural gas line which accumulated until the gas/air mixture reached an ignition source."

    Captain, has it ever occurred to you to engage your brain before putting your mouth in gear?

     
  • Juggernaut8000 posted at 2:21 pm on Mon, Jan 30, 2012.

    Juggernaut8000 Posts: 576

    ANFO gone awry?

     
  • crazysaguaro posted at 11:31 am on Mon, Jan 30, 2012.

    crazysaguaro Posts: 1

    What time did this happen on January 29? I live about a mile from that intersection (Willis Ranch subdivision) and heard an enormous boom that rocked my house at 10:55pm. Dogs started barking all around and then about 10 minutes later I heard sirens in the distance.

     
  • Dale Whiting posted at 10:09 am on Mon, Jan 30, 2012.

    Dale Whiting Posts: 3705

    "Chandler fire officials say the fire is suspicious." No dah!

    Were there one explosion, not "loud explosions and debris from the blast scattered to the house next door" one would begin by examining such things as a leak in a natural gas line which accumulated until the gas/air mixture reached an ignition source. While that sort of blast might push out walls and lift off the roof, that scattered debris suggests much more.

    Keep us posted, Editors!

     
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