By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-20 05:27:28 | Updated at 2024-11-20 07:36:25
2 hours ago
A house explosion rocked a small town just southeast of Cincinnati, Ohio on Tuesday morning, killing two people and injuring another.
Local firefighters in Bethel, Ohio responded to a call reporting a house fire with possible entrapment at 8:44 a.m. While they were en route, crews heard reports of the explosion, Bethel-Tate Fire Chief Christopher Cooper confirmed.
By the time they arrived, debris littered the neighborhood and a heavy fire continued to rage.
A man and a woman were killed, fire officials said. Their relationship is still unknown.
The third person, a heating repairman, was taken to UC Medical Center with burn injuries. He was well enough after the fire to talk with the neighbors who lingered outside after the explosion shook their neighborhood.
“He’s bent over with his hands on his knees, trying to trying to get his breath, his face was dirty. I got closer and was like ‘are you ok?’ and his whole hair was singed. And me and the other neighbor said you need to go get an ambulance,” neighbor Stephanie Young told WLWT.
When the house exploded, the debris shot in every direction, leaving only the flaming remains of the house.
The cause of the explosion is still not known and the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office has launched an investigation.
It took 45 minutes to control the blaze with mutual aid from four other responding departments.
Now, emergency personnel are starting to parse through the debris scattered around the neighborhood for any clues about what could’ve caused the explosion, Cooper said.
Other homes only suffered minor damages, but nearly every felt the shock from the explosion.
“It literally woke me up and I grabbed my daughter and was like did a tree come through our house,” neighbor Jayslin Harris told WLWT.
“We come outside and there was smoke and fire out back. You could see big gray smoke. It was crazy.”
Another neighbor, Keith Lampkin, was at work when it happened.
“Wake up, make the coffee and you know come home and your neighbors are gone,” Lampkin told WLWT.
