Guilford, VT – A preliminary investigation determined an explosion that leveled a house in Guilford, Vt., and trapped a resident for hours Wednesday morning was caused by a ruptured propane gas line in the basement.
An investigation by Vermont State Police detectives and the Vermont Division of Fire Safety has not yet determined what ignited the propane or how the line ruptured. However, it wasn’t considered suspicious, according to Vermont State Police Det. Sgt. Tyson Kinney.
The explosion at 33 Great Blue Heron Drive was reported shortly after 7 a.m.; upon arrival, emergency crews found that Richard Holden, 64, was trapped in the basement of his home, a Vermont State Police news release reported.
Holden had been trapped in the rubble since 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, when the blast occurred, Kinney said. A neighbor told police he had heard the sound in the early morning, but hadn’t thought anything of it until he woke up and saw the house in ruins, according to Kinney.
Within an hour of arrival emergency crews had rescued Holden from the rubble; he was taken to Brattleboro Memorial Hospital then transferred to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, where he remains hospitalized. Kinney described Holden’s non-life-threatening injuries as relatively minor considering the size of the blast. Since Holden ended up in the basement when the house collapsed, Kinney said he was in just the right place to survive.
Holden lives at the house with his wife, but she was out of town at the time of the explosion, Kinney said.
Karen Blumberg, who lives on Weatherhead Hollow Road a mile or two from the explosion, said she knew something was seriously wrong when she saw emergency response vehicles whipping by her home.
Members from the Guilford Fire Department, Brattleboro Fire Department, Keene Fire Department, Rescue Inc., State of Vermont Urban Search and Rescue Team, Green Mountain Power and Guilford Town Highway Department all responded to the scene.
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Sgt. Tyson Kinney of the Vermont State Police-Westminster Barracks at 802-722-4670.