A propane tank is suspected as the source of a deadly house explosion in Mandan, ND. Clyde and Elizabeth Howe and their daughter Elianna Vazquez, 17, were home at the time of the 12:14 a.m. blast on Wednesday. Elizabeth was pronounced dead at the scene, Clyde and Elianna were transported to a Bismarck hospital where he later died. Elianna is reported to be in stable condition. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help her.
“This explosion, it was pretty violent. So there was definitely a big build up of gas in the house, and we’re just trying to determine what the ignition source was. It definitely was a violent explosion,” Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier told KFYR TV.
The explosion at the home, located off N.D. Highway 1806 about 5 miles north of Mandan, was reported by a neighbor who said it caused his house to shake. When firefighters arrived on the scene, there was no fire, just a pile of rubble where the 5-year-old house once stood and debris strewn as far as 100 feet across the snow.
One of Clyde and Elizabeth’s sons told authorities that heat sources for the house included a geothermal system, a propane tank and a fireplace. Hours before the blast, he said he smelled something like “sewer gas.”
Sources:
http://www.kfyrtv.com/content/news/House-Explosion-Kills-Two–406531365.html
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/mandan/two-dead-after-morton-county-house-explosion/article_b31ee9d9-ddfe-5f14-947d-bf996ba573ac.html