Lake Orion newlyweds displaced after home destroyed in explosion
LAKE ORION, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – A Lake Orion resident and his family are displaced after their home was destroyed by an explosion that rocked a condominium complex on Tuesday.
"It's very tough to see everything my wife and I worked for go up in flames," said Drake Falconer.
"Shocked" and "empty" are two words that Falconer used to describe the devastation of what's left of his home.
"Our unit was one of the units that has been a complete loss," Falconer said.
For two years, Falconer and his wife Nina, who got married in September, have called the condo their home. Now, they're left with only the clothes on their backs and memories as all of their belongings turned to ash.
"Wedding dresses, rings, paintings, all that stuff is gone. So, we're back to basically square one with everything," Falconer said.
The duo was fortunately spared from the explosion as neither was home at the time of the blast.
"I got called to do a basketball game. My father coaches varsity basketball so I got asked that morning to go assist with them, and my wife was thankfully coming home from work, had to stop and get some groceries and got herself some food, and if she was home any earlier and if I decided not to go, I probably would have been in the building when it exploded," said Falconer.
They witnessed their building up in flames, and are still searching for their two cats but are grateful they survived.
"Thankful that my wife is OK and we're both alive and well but no indication if our cats are alive or not," Falconer said.
Falconer says their home is insured, but right now his main focus is trying to find his cats and a place for him and his wife to stay for the next few weeks.