Delanson, NY – An incorrectly installed propane gas line may be to blame for the explosion and subsequent fire that destroyed a Delanson home, Schenectady County fire officials said Friday.
Determining the official cause was made difficult after fire officials deemed the home unsafe to enter late Thursday night. It was demolished overnight.
“They were worried it would collapse,” County Fire Coordinator John Nuzback said.
Fire investigators who interviewed the landlord of the two-story rental, located across from the village fire station on Main Street, told Nuzback that the landlord had installed a furnace on the first floor earlier Thursday.
A propane tank behind the building is believed to have exploded.
“We’re not 100 percent sure whether every connection was made properly, or if something happened with the furnace itself,” he said. “It happened to be a used unit.”
No one was hurt in the explosion or ensuing fire, which sent flames shooting through the home’s two stories and attic windows.