Parkland, WA – Two people fled to safety Wednesday morning after a natural gas explosion and fire at a Parkland home rocked the neighborhood. Officials said the damage could easily have
been much worse for other homes and a nearby school.
The massive explosion hit just before 5 a.m. as the two occupants were sleeping in their home on 105th Street South, hurling glass and burning debris more than 40 feet. The blast jolted the couple
awake, and they ran from the home as flames spread.
John Pirnie, who lives in the neighborhood, said he was awake when he heard a thundering blast.
“I just heard a real loud explosion,” he told KOMO News. “When I looked out the windows I could see the flames shooting above her roof line.”
Fire crews rushed to the scene as flames engulfed the home’s laundry room. Crews immediately cut power to the home and extinguished the blaze after about 30 minutes.
Fire officials say a leaky natural gas line to the home was ignited by a spark from an appliance, such as a freezer or laundry machine.
“The corner of the house is actually bowed out about 4 inches,” said Ed Hrivnak of Central Pierce Fire & Rescue. “There’s substantial damage on the inside. There’s a metal cabinet that’s warped
from the explosion.”
The couple who owns the home huddled in blankets outside as they watched firefighters battle the blaze. A relative says the homeowners and their pets are all OK.
Hrivnak said the location of the explosion was actually a lucky break.
“The natural gas, if it had leaked into a crawl space or in a confined area, the explosion could have been more violent,” he said.
Neighborhood homes are just a few yards away and there’s an
elementary school down the street.
The broken gas line has now been isolated, so no one else is in danger.