Two people were killed and one injured in a house explosion Tuesday morning in a small town just southeast of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Local firefighters in Bethel, Ohio, responded to a call at 8:44 a.m. reporting a house fire with a possible trap. Bethel-Tate Fire Chief Christopher Cooper confirmed that crews heard reports of an explosion while responding.
By the time they arrived, the neighborhood was littered with debris and heavy fires continued.
According to fire officials, a man and a woman were killed. Their relationship is still unknown.
The third person, a heating equipment repairman, was taken to the University of California Medical Center with burn injuries. After the fire, he remained well enough to talk to his neighbors who remained outside after the explosion rocked the neighborhood.
“He was bent over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath, and his face was dirty. I walked up to him and said, 'Are you okay?' And all of his hair was burnt. And me and another neighbor said we needed to call an ambulance,” neighbor Stephanie Young said. WLWT.
When the house exploded, debris flew in all directions, leaving only the burning remains of the house.
The cause of the explosion is not yet known, and the Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office has begun an investigation.
With mutual aid from four other responding departments, it took 45 minutes to bring the fire under control.
Cooper said emergency workers are now beginning to analyze debris scattered around the neighborhood for clues as to the cause of the explosion.
Almost all homes felt the impact of the explosion, although other homes sustained only minor damage.
“I literally woke up and held my daughter, and it felt like a tree was coming through our house,” neighbor Jacelyn Harris told WLWT.
“I went outside and there was smoke and fire. I saw big gray smoke. It was crazy.”
Another neighbor, Keith Lumpkin, was at work when the incident occurred.
“I wake up, make some coffee, get home and find that my neighbors are gone,” Lumpkin told WLWT.
