Newark, OH – A Newark couple only suffered minor injures after their two-story house exploded Sunday morning, killing their dog.
It happened shortly before 8:00 a.m. in the 1100 block of Pembroke Road.
“Just a really loud explosion,” said neighbor Amy Gillham. “We thought actually something had happened to our house. It shook our entire house.”
Neighbors and family members said it was a miracle the homeowners, Lisa and Mark Wiseman, were able to get out alive.
“He said there were multiple explosions at first and then when they got out fo the house there was one big explosion that pretty much caught the rest of the house on fire,” said Mark Wiseman’s brother, Rob.
Family members told 10TV Lisa Wiseman was in the upstairs bedroom when the roof collapsed.
The force of the blast blew out windows and a door off the back of the home. The intense heat from the fire melted the siding of a neighbor’s house.
“They were very, very shaken up. They were scared,” said Gillham. “They were outside in their front yard and we called the squad for them and tried to give them as much help as we could.”
She and her husband were transported to Licking Memorial Hospital where they were treated for their injuries and released.
Newark firefighters believe a natural gas explosion caused the destruction.
They are now handing the investigation over to The Energy Cooperative. The company’s work crews repaired a small leak in the main line that supplies gas to the area last week.
A company spokesperson said the service lines that feed gas into the homes were tested on Sunday and were all found to be in working order.
“I just can’t believe they got out,” said Rob Wiseman. “Like I said, I just thank God that they did. It is a miracle. It really is. People don’t live through that type of damage so we can say that God definitely had his eyes on us today.”
Newark firefighters said experts from the gas company and insurance representatives are looking into whether a leak may have sparked the explosion or unknown problems with the service line going into the home.