"Like my house got hit by a car or something": Community reacts to Northfield Twp. home explosion
WHITMORE LAKE, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - Michael Magda says he was vacuuming Saturday afternoon and cleaning up Christmas decorations with his wife. He says Saturday's deadly home explosion in Northfield Township in Washtenaw County was something heard around the community.
"All of a sudden, I heard a big boom. Like my house got hit by a car or something," Magda said.
"My wife jumped up, and I looked at her. 'Did anything drop off the storage shelves'? And she ran down to go check. My son came down from upstairs and said, 'What was that? And I go, 'I don't know.'"
As seen in the video above, CBS News Detroit's Eye in the Sky Chopper captured this video shortly after the explosion.
"Few minutes later, I looked out, and everybody in the neighborhood's out standing around, looking around, and what's going on, you know? You hear sirens and all that, so you know something in the township went on," Magda said.
Northfield Township police say the explosion has brought a tremendous amount of traffic to the area, which is hindering the investigation. They are reminding the public that the explosion occurred on a private road. Winters Lane remains closed at this time.
On Tuesday, Jan. 2, authorities identified the homeowner as 72-year-old Richard Pruden.
Pruden's daughter, Hope Bragg, 51, as well as her husband, Don Bragg, 53, their son, Kenneth Bragg, 22, and daughter, Elizabeth Bragg, 19, died in the explosion.
Police say Pruden is in critical condition. The family's youngest child, 16-year-old Stephen Bragg, is in stable condition.
Authorities say the Bragg family were visiting from Arkansas for the holidays.