Propane leak caused Sullivan County explosion that leveled home and left 3 people critically injured
KIAMESHA LAKE, N.Y. -- Investigators confirm a propane leak caused a house explosion Saturday in Sullivan County,
New York State Police say 36-year-old Robert McDowell, 9-year-old Savanah Mackerly and 5-year-old Jessie Mackerly are still in critical condition after the blast.
Neighbors told CBS New York on the scene McDowell was home with his girlfriend's two children.
The explosion leveled the home on James Place shortly before 12:30 p.m. in Kiamesha Lake. Two neighboring homes were also damaged and had to be demolished.
"We seen debris everywhere. It looked like it was snowing in the street. There was just insulation was falling everywhere," neighbor Angel Gianccone said. "We seen them. They had the two over there on the side and then we heard screams from the house. So we ran around the back of the house, and we heard a little girl inside screaming, and then we seen everyone go running to the back of the house and then they pulled the stretcher, and we watched them pull her out and put her onto the stretcher."
"All my cabinets were open. Everything flew out of the cabinets and off the walls. That's how bad this was," Lillian Ayala said. "Must have just lifted up the house and dropped it. I am here almost 30 years and I never thought anything like this would happen."
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family, who lost everything and remain hospitalized.