Cleveland, OH – A home on the city’s East Side exploded Thursday at about 12:45 p.m., spreading debris throughout a quiet, residential street and blowing out windows of neighboring homes.
Cleveland Fire spokesman Larry Gray said several callers reported a home exploded on the corner of Sandusky and Clarebird avenues. When fire crews arrived about three minutes later, the home was engulfed in flames and debris was strewn several lots away.
Firefighters have since extinguished the flames, but all that’s left at the address is a chimney.
The home and neighboring lot had been vacant for some time, Gray said, but until demolition crews are able to dig through the debris, it’s too early to tell if anyone was inside.
Arson investigators are on the scene, and believe the explosion could have been the result of a gas leak, but Gray said that could not be immediately confirmed.
Charles Brown, who lives across the street from the exploded home, said he was in his kitchen cooking at the time of the blast.
“I heard a boom, and the vibrations knocked me in the stove I was cooking on,” he said. “It looked like somebody dropped napalm. I thought I was back in Cambodia.”
Neighbors told fire investigators there was no suspicious activity or natural gas odor in the area before the explosion, Gray said.