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[BigRedDog]

The house was actually in LaSalle Twsp. on Minx Rd. just south of Hubbard Rd.   Central dispatch originally dispatched it as an Ida fire with MonroeTown and LaSalle assisting. 

We took a ride down there to see what was going on.  There are no hydrants there so they were having to haul water with tankers from the corner of Yargerville and Strasburg roads.  I did see and LMR fire truck there too.

I got some video and pictures...   I'll post the pictures later tonight but the video will have to wait until my other computer is done because it has the video editing program on it (and this one is so slow doing video anyway).

No one was hurt although the woman that lives there was thrown off the porch just as she was about to open the door and walk inside.

The home is a total loss and as we were leaving there was an excavator just getting there to finish tearing it down. 

It was an excellent example of a civil war era triple brick wall construction Mdwest farm home.

An interesting sidenote...   at one time the farm had belonged to MonroeTown fire chief Larry Merkle's grandfather...   it still says Julian Merkle above the barn door

[BigRedDog]

Here's the aritlce from the MEN

http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120320/NEWS01/703209971

[BigRedDog]

These were all taken with my video camera and they aren't the best pictures...

but it's what I had with me at the time

This is the south side of the house which is nearest their driveway.  The lady that owned the home was going into the home through the door on the right when the home exploded.  You can see the triple wall brick constuction near the middle of the photo:



I was zoomed out more here and you can see where the fire burned through the roof in the center and at the back of the home:



It was a one way road...    southbound only:



Dispatch was at 3:15 according to the MEN article...   we were walking the dogs at the time and saw the smoke...   photo was taken about 5:45 so if anyone looks like they're resting...   it was very well deserved by then.  Temp is around 80 outside of your turnout gear...   much warmer inside



The excavator was getting there just as we were leaving.  They were going to tear it down and then put foam on the pile of debris:



Still visible over the door to the barn:

[Skittelroo]

Good work, BRD.  This house is almost identical to ours. 

 So glad the lady was OK.  I really feel bad for her.

[NewDawn]

Great pics BRD!

I feel terrible for this woman. Wondering if she had any belongings to salvage before the excavator flattened her home and foamed it.

[Monique]

I was wondering the same thing about her possessions. I mean, 77 years worth of living, I bet she had some things precious to her in that house. How disorienting and difficult for her.... Hope she was able to get a few things to hold on to, and I hope she has loving family to go to.

[Professor H]

Good work, BRD.  This house is almost identical to ours. 

 So glad the lady was OK.  I really feel bad for her.

I live in one of those triple brick homes as well...
Shame to see it destroyed.

Curious if it was a backdraft explosion or a Natural Gas one?   If the opening in the picture was from the explosion.

[BigRedDog]

Great pics BRD!

I feel terrible for this woman. Wondering if she had any belongings to salvage before the excavator flattened her home and foamed it.

I was wondering the same thing about her possessions. I mean, 77 years worth of living, I bet she had some things precious to her in that house. How disorienting and difficult for her.... Hope she was able to get a few things to hold on to, and I hope she has loving family to go to.

There were a few pieces of furniture out in the yard.  One looked like a hutch or china cabinet and it looked 'all there' but did have some apparent smoke damage.  Unless there was a lot more on the opposite side I would guess they lost most of their possessions.

Btw, her husband was outside working at the time and was not injured either.

There were several of their children at the scene (I believe I heard someone say they had 9 children).

I did see an MCA EMT go talk to her one time while we were there (2 hours after the incident so looked like they were keeping a good eye on her).

The ambulance was there plus the Red Cross and Bedford sent a truck and firefighters to stand by in the Ida station.

[BigRedDog]

I live in one of those triple brick homes as well...
Shame to see it destroyed.

Curious if it was a backdraft explosion or a Natural Gas one?   If the opening in the picture was from the explosion.

With her being outside at the time we may never know.

The only thing I can speculate is that she had possibly opened the door and that allowed just enough oxygen into the home to allow for an "explosive mixture" to occur at that very moment...

but as you say...   an explosive mixture of what?

And I am not sure if she actually opened the door or if she was merely on the porch.  Hopefully we'll hear more on that later.

[Professor H]

Natural Gas explosions leave a larger amount of damage in the Upper sections,  "ligter than air", while LPG would leave lower level damage predominant, "heavier than air"...   Backdraft would have meant the entire house was "charged" and blew when she opened the door - but that didn't seem to be the case if the downstairs furniture was Intact...

These are just observations based on the science of fire investigation without actual knowledge of this particular case...

[BigRedDog]

Natural Gas explosions leave a larger amount of damage in the Upper sections,  "ligter than air", while LPG would leave lower level damage predominant, "heavier than air"...   Backdraft would have meant the entire house was "charged" and blew when she opened the door - but that didn't seem to be the case if the downstairs furniture was Intact...

These are just observations based on the science of fire investigation without actual knowledge of this particular case...

I did talk to a couple of the firefighters at the scene and all the damage didn't come from the explosion...

they did attempt to knock the house down with water streams (not sure if it was hand lines or a deluge gun) but what you see is what was left.

[BigRedDog]

13ABC just had an interview with Mrs. Southwell...

she has a huge bruise on her arm but other than looked pretty good...

they had lived there 44 years...

the home has not been completely torn down yet so maybe they'll be able to salvage some of their belongings.

They are staying nearby with one of their children and are in the process of deciding if they will rebuild there.

The speculation at this time is that a natural gas space heater may have been the cause.

I'll post a link later if 13ABC has it on video...   they normall do

[BigRedDog]

Link to the 13ABC noon news article with video:

http://www.13abc.com/story/17210971/2012/03/21/house-explosion-throws-woman

[BigRedDog]

WDIV has an article on their website this afternoon (although they have moved the house across the road into Ida Twsp) ;

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/Woman-blasted-off-front-porch-when-Ida-Township-home-explodes/-/1719418/9656154/-/inktqe/-/index.html

They also have several photos they took from their chopper:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/-/1719418/9623286/-/4yqq2a/-/index.html

[Deanna]

I couldn't help but notice in the click on detroit article:
"The Southwells aren’t the kind of people to ask for help. But they didn’t have homeowner’s insurance.

Neighbor Adrian Farris says he wants to help only to return the couple’s kindness.

“They will go out of their way to help and never ask for anything in return,” he said. “I just implore everybody to help these people. They’ve lost everything.”
"
Maybe there is someone who can list some of the things that they need the most?