Wescott, WI – The Shawano County Sheriff’s Office says 54-year-old Diane Pickett was killed Thursday when an explosion leveled her home.
We were able to determine that there was one female in the residence at the time of the explosion and we found her deceased inside the home,” reads a statement from the sheriff’s office.
The Sheriff’s Office said that after an extensive and systematic search on Thursday, they found Pickett and she was pronounced dead by the Shawano County Coroner.
An autopsy will be done Friday afternoon.
The TCH Daily News reports that the cause of the explosion has not been confirmed but propane is believed to involved.
“In any investigation of this sorts, we are going to look at burn patterns, debris fields, statements of anyone that would have had information about the residence that might be applicable. We are going to be talking to a lot of people and assessing the scene,” says Capt. Thomas Tuma, Shawano County Sheriff’s Office.
An investigator with the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department says officials have made contact with Pickett’s husband, who was out of state at the time of the explosion.
Rescue crews were dispatched at 5:03 a.m. to the home on Richter Court in the Town of Wescott between Washington and Loon Lakes.
“I got up like 20 to 5. I let the dog out. When she came back in, I was feeding her treats and all of the sudden this BOOM. And the house just shook,” said neighbor John Abendorth.
Neighbors tell Action 2 News they tried to reach out to the woman Thursday, but got no answer.
“I couldn’t get her to answer or anything, so I got dressed, said I’m gonna go walk, and I got down there and I could see the flame and just-there was nothing left of the house,” Rick Shaw said.
Det. Sgt. Gordon Kowaleski with the Shawano County Sheriff’s Office said, “It gets to be rather complex because you have to get contact information for the homeowners for people, you have to get a hold of those folks, and then basically… ‘sifting’ is a very good word. You literally sift through all the debris and then try to piece it back together and find out what happened and what caused it. And for that reason is why we contact the state Fire Marshal. They have much more expertise in that.”
The powerful blast sent debris flying. Neighbors have been working to clean it up from their yards.
“The closet door blew open. Stuff was flying,” said Ralph Shaw. “Wall board, insulation, all over.”
Laurie Yunk tells Action 2 News that blast was so strong, items fell off her wall.
We were still laying in bed and I heard this loud noise that I originally thought was thunder. And I’m like, um, I’m not seeing anything else going on. I look at my husband and he goes, yeah no. That was something that just blew up,” says Laurie Yunk. “And I’m like, really? And we kind of got up and we looked around and we didn’t see any smoke, any fire, anything, and then my husband went in the back side of the house and said, yeah a bunch of stuff blew off our walls. I’m like really? And then we notice our neighbor was up and they had doors that blew open.
The Shawano County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the cause of the blast.
“We have made contact with a homeowner. There are still other members we need to get a hold of, so we are again in the process of that. This is still fluid and ongoing,” Det. Sgt. Kowaleski says.