Explosion Levels Suburban House Injures One

REDFORD (WWJ) "A man walked over to the house, opened up the door and the house went boom."

That's how one neighbor explained to WWJ Newsradio what he saw when a home in suburban Redford, Mich., seemed to disappear in a giant fiery explosion Sunday evening. Three people were reportedly trapped in a van nearby.

Firefighters confirmed the one person injured was "...alive, but pretty beat up from the explosion". Neighbors say at least one person was inside the house when it exploded.

Neighbors said the residents had just moved in and the explosion happened when they tried to light the pilot lights for the furnace for the first time.

"They took the van away the next time we seen ... We watched them tow out two stretchers with bags on them," the neighbor reported.

Justin Edgell, the neighbor, added he ran outside to "make sure they weren't being bombed."

"I was just sitting at my buddy's house, leaned over to get an ash tray and then kaboom!" he told WWJ. "The explosion was so bad it actually knocked me out of my chair." 

He said the next thing he knew, stretchers carrying what looked like body bags were being taken out, Edgell said.

Several neighbors rushed to help the people trapped in the van by the explosion, he added.

A couch blew from the house and landed 100 feet away. A man raking his leaves nearby was blown off his feet and landed 30 or so feet away on his concrete front porch. The explosion broke out neighbors' windows.

Neighbor Michael Collins said it was "absolute devastation."

Chris Tracy said the wall inside his parent's house near the scene of the explosion shot out at him while he was reclining on the couch, getting ready to watch some Sunday night TV shows. "If we would have left, we would have been right there when it happened," he said.

He said he saw a man on fire in the front yard.

An initial investigation points to a possible gas leak as the cause.  DTE Energy crews were on the scene shutting off gas to the area.

The victim was taken to the hospital but there is no word on his condition.