House Explodes On Detroit's West Side, Two Nearby Burn
DETROIT (WWJ) - Investigators are examining what's left of a west side Detroit home after an apparently natural gas explosion leveled it and burned two others.
Reporting from the scene on Faust Street near the Southfield Freeway, WWJ's Ron Dewey said the middle home was reduced to a pile of debris in the blast that witnesses said could be heard all the way to the end of the block.
The houses on either side were seriously damaged.
Neighbor Mitch Williams described the scene.
- (WWJ Photo/Ron Dewey)
"I can clearly see the window busted -- her window was knocked all out and ceiling caved in. And you can clearly see the fire next door," said Williams. "At that point I grabbed my daughter and my son and my dog and I rushed them out."
Willie McKorkle said his ex-girlfriend and their daughter lived at the middle house. But, luckily, the girl was at school and her mother at work when it happened.
"A lot is going through my mind right now. I'm glad baby wasn't in there," he said.
McKorkle said the gas furnace of that home had been repaired several weeks earlier.
No injuries were reported.
The Red Cross is now helping at least one of the families and asking for donations to help these and other families displaced by disasters. (Learn how to help here).
