Poughkeepsie, NY – A propane explosion wreaked havoc on a Town of Poughkeepsie home Tuesday afternoon, blowing out walls and windows, knocking out part of the foundation and destroying the entire back of the residence.
“The blast could wake the dead,” said Kyle Gordon who lives around the corner on Violet Avenue. “It was so loud.”
The explosion woke Gordon out of a “sound sleep,” he said, and when he looked outside he saw a stream of smoke emanating from the home.
The house, located at 7 Brady Pl., was badly damaged and flames were visible when firefighters arrived at around 4:40 p.m., said Chief of the Fairview Fire District Christopher Maeder. Firefighters put the blaze out in about an hour.
A male inside the home exited as the explosion happened, Maeder said. The man had minor injuries, but wasn’t sent to the hospital.
A propane gas leak in the basement is believed to be at the root of the explosion, according to Maeder, and the incident was accidental.
Central Hudson also deemed the explosion propane-related.
“(O)ur crews indicate that the cause of the incident is due to propane,” wrote John Maserjian, Central Hudson spokesperson in an email to the Poughkeepsie Journal.
Mutual aid was on the scene from the City of Poughkeepsie Fire Department, Mobile Life Support Services, the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department and the Dutchess County Department of Emergency Response. The Town of Poughkeepsie Building Department and Central Hudson also responded, according to Maeder.
“The house is not going to be used after this,” said Maeder. The building department deemed the structure unsafe, according to a press release from the Fairview Fire District.
“I heard a boom,” said Joseph Lutz, 48, who lives behind the residence on Hennessey Place. When Lutz looked out his back door he saw the bottom of the home “blow out,” smoke and insulation, which looked like snow falling, he said.