DETROIT (WWJ) – A Detroit neighborhood is cleaning up after what one city official calls “one of the worst explosions that we’ve seen.”
A gas explosion completely leveled a home on Sussex Street, near Greenfield and McNichols Roads, around 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Late Monday night DTE Energy officials confirmed all DTE equipment was working as expected, without gas leaks. But the investigation confirmed the incident was “a result of at least one open fuel line on resident-owned equipment inside the home.”
Officials have not elaborated on what type of equipment caused the explosion.
The blast reduced the home at the corner of Sussex and Florence Streets to rubble and damaged seven other homes. No serious injuries were reported in the explosion.
“This is one of the worst explosions that we’ve seen,” said Dave Bell, the city’s Director of Buildings, Safety Engineering, & Environmental Department. “I’ve never seen an explosion where debris was shot across the street and over the house across the street.”
The Detroit Fire Department remained on-scene Tuesday afternoon as they continued the investigation.
Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison told WWJ’s Ryan Marshall Tuesday was a “good day.”
“Anytime you can have an explosion like this with no loss of life, at that point, I’m thankful for that,” he said.
Bettison said the focus Tuesday turned to “wrapping our arms around the community,” getting the debris cleaned up and creating a safe perimeter in the area.
City officials boarded the neighboring houses that were damaged by the blast and the families were put up into hotels, Bettison said.
On Monday the homeowner told WWJ’s Jon Hewett she believes the only reason she's alive is because she had an appointment to go somewhere just minutes before the house blew up.