Columbus, OH – The force of a home explosion in South Columbus was so strong it sent debris from the house sailing across the street.
Pieces of glass littered nearby sidewalks, a screen from a window in one yard and bricks strewn across another leave little doubt of the power of the blast.
Homeowner Bobby Morrison didn’t know what to think.
I was just wondering what the hell happened, Morrison said.
Bobby Morrison was the proud, new owner of the home. Now he’s left with just a lot. And there’s no picking up the pieces of what’s left either. The house is a total loss
The home’s former owner Dennis Reynolds lives right behind where his old house once sat.
It just felt like a big earthquake really. It rattled the whole neighborhood, Reynolds said.
Reynolds and other neighbors are still shaken up from the blast that rattled nerves and homes blocks away.
We were sitting at the house, then loud bang, which we originally thought might have been the train yard over here, but then the whole house shook–window panes, everything like that. So we come out to the front yard, Megan Delaney said.
In his 30-years as a firefighter Columbus fire battalion chief Tom DeLong said he’s never seen anything like the explosion, with flames so high and hot they melted siding on nearby homes, and with a blast so strong it sent shards of glass sailing into others.
It appears it was a gas explosion. Leveled the house, Chief Delong said.
Now as investigators work to determine how the explosion happened, two men the house meant the most two remind themselves that homes can be rebuilt.
Both Morrison and Reynolds said they were glad that nobody got hurt.