BOTHELL, Wash. — A house exploded in Bothell, leaving the structure in shambles and damaging surrounding homes.
It happened around 9 a.m. at 25th Drive Southeast, near the Bothell Everett Highway. Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue officials believe a natural gas leak caused the explosion but it’s still unclear where that leak came from and what spark set it off. The explosion ripped apart the newly bought home’s garage and sent the garage door clear across the street.
“It literally was like a bomb,” said Debbie Dadula, who lives down the street from the mid-morning explosion that rocked the quiet Bothell block. “Literally got bookshelves knocked down.”
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“I’m thinking what in the world can do that? a plane crash or what,” said Raymond Cantu, another neighbor.
The force from that explosion didn’t just damage the one home, surrounding homes had shattered windows. Fire officials also said the home closest had the nearest wall buckle from the force.
“That’s part of the rood structure that had collapsed during the explosion,” said Peter Mongillo, Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue’s PIO. “You could imagine firefighters walk up and they’ve already lost one way of gaining access to fight this fire because the debris was blocking the garage.”
Raymond Cantu said, “I’ve never seen anything like this. I was standing looking and I was shaking. Not from the cold I think it’s from the shock.”
The new owners just bought the home two days ago. According to the Zillow listing, it’s newly renovated. Mongillo said those new owners had just left the home to run an errand when the explosion happened.
“Right now they’re [fire investigators] looking at every single thing. Fire Marshalls are upstairs looking at the stove to see if a nob was turned on and left on,” said Mongillo.
If this blast is causing any concerns with gas-powered appliances in your home, officials say to make sure to have both a carbon monoxide and fire detector up and running. Then check around your home.
“Do some inspections on your natural gas lines, your appliances to make sure that they are not leaking. especially your furnaces. Your furnaces could be leaking out natural gas or carbon monoxide really slowly and you won’t even know it till things get out of control,” Mongillo said.
He also said if there is a gas smell or a carbon monoxide detector goes off call 911 immediately and get out of the structure.
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