People across a west Topeka neighborhood hear a boom and feel their homes rattle around them. Their instincts lead them outside to find a home flattened. Neighbor Kathyleen Ellsworth says, "It was just engulfed in flames.We were just all in shock. I have never seen anything like this before. It's the scariest thing." Neighbor and ER Nurse Jeremy Dinwiddie searched for the homeowner. He says, "My only thought was to look for limbs sticking out of the pile."
Police say a sprinkler system instal caused a gas line to rupture below what used to be a woman's home. Now, only charred debris remains. Topeka Police Lt. Jana Harden says, "The officers at Topeka West High School heard the explosion, felt the explosion, and the fire department got the call shortly after that a house had exploded."
The explosion shattered neighbor's windows, littered yards with glass and insulation, and blew the garage door off Freda Kinney's home next door. Kinney says, "I was in the basement on my computer and it just sounded like my whole house had been hit. I thought the ceiling was going to come down. My door blew open in the den."
Kinney knows the woman who lived in the house and says she believes she was working in her yard at the time. Police says she was flown to a Kansas City hospital to be treated for injuries. Kinney says, "She's a widow. Her husband died about two years ago. She lived there by herself."
Spectators flooded the area for hours and Topeka Police, Fire and Emergency Management officials worked to keep everyone safe. Topeka Emergency Management Director Jim Green says, "You rarely call emergency management out for a fire but when you do it's for a reason that your safety is a concern. You want to keep the neighborhood intact. This is a rarity here."
A small fire started just down the street from the explosion site, where burning insulation was carried to a front yard. Firefighters extinguished those flames almost immediately.
Kansas Gas Service crews shut down natural gas to approximately 77 homes in the area.
