NORTHFIELD TOWNSHIP (WWJ) - One of the victims of a house explosion in Northfield Township has had his hospital status moved to stable condition.
72-year-old Richard Pruden has been upgraded to stable condition, Northfield Township Police said in a statement. Stephen Bragg, Pruden’s 16-year-old grandson, also remains in the hospital in stable condition.
Pruden and Bragg both have a “long recovery ahead of them,” Northfield Township said in a Facebook post.
“Right now our biggest concern is making sure the 2 in the hospital are well-cared for and hopefully they can make a full recovery and that our public safety folks are also cared for as they go through this,” Northfield Township Supervisor Ken Dignan said.
A vigil is planned for Saturday afternoon in remembrance of the victims and to offer support to their families. It will be held at Whitmore Lake High School at 3 p.m.
“It’s heart-wrenching. This community will come together though,” Dignan said. “I think it's going to be a good thing for the community to come together on Saturday over at the high school. The school has said anything they can do, they're more than happy to. We'll be over there, we'll have folks there. We're trying to make other arrangements just to have comfort stations for folks, especially the neighbors.”
Around 3.30 p.m. on Dec. 30, a house on Winters Lane exploded. Four people were killed in the explosion.
While investigators have said that drugs and foul play have been ruled out, the cause of the explosion is still under investigation.