Michigan City, IN – A Michigan City home lays in a pile of debris after an explosion early Sunday morning.
Neighbors heard the explosion and felt the tremors from blocks away when the incident occurred.
Firefighters received the call at 9:22 a.m. and were dispatched to the home located at 436 Pleasant Avenue.
Michigan City firefighters managed to extinguish the flames quickly before it spread.
According to Michigan City Fire Chief Randy Novak, the home was vacant at the time of the explosion.
The owners of the home told Novak that they had recently evicted the tenants from the home about two weeks prior and the home has been vacant since then.
Firefighters believe there may have been a gas leak in the home that continued to build up while the home sat vacantly and eventually reached the flame from the furnace’s pilot causing the massive explosion.
The force of the explosion sent debris and shrapnel throughout the area causing damage to surrounding homes.
The home located just south of the explosion which also belongs to the same homeowners, suffered severe damage when flames spread from the original explosion.
Another home located north of the explosion had its windows and awnings destroyed as well as severe damage to two vehicles sitting in the yard.
Debris from the explosion stretched across the street and the roof of the home landing in the yard of the home across the street destroying a fence and smashing windows.
According to Novak, the two homes that suffered the most damage were both vacant at the time of the incident.
NIPSCO workers responded to the home to secure an underground gas leaked caused during the explosion.
A portion of Pleasant Avenue was closed off to traffic between Rose and Holiday Streets as firefighters and workers cleared the road of debris.
No injuries were reported.