Munster Flood Series - House Explodes

MUNSTER | A gas explosion obliterated an evacuated home Wednesday night on Munster's deluged north side, shaking the region with a resounding thump heard miles away.

"It was like a massive Roman candle," neighborhood resident and witness Mark Steinken said.

"You could feel the shock wave," he said.

Firefighters found no one hurt in or near the flattened, burning pile of timbers that remained of the house in the 7900 block of Monroe Street after the blast about 7:20 p.m., Town Manager Thomas DeGiulio said. That home's occupant was accounted for after the explosion, DeGiulio said.

The explosion lit fire to two neighboring homes, both also empty because of the mandatory evacuation in the neighborhood just south of the Little Calumet River, DeGiulio said.

NIPSCO crews cut gas to many homes after the river spilled 3 feet of water into the neighborhood over the weekend, DeGiulio said. But gas continued to flow to some houses.

"They can't get to the gas. They can't find the meters because they're so deep underwater," DeGiulio said.

NIPSCO workers and firefighters were cutting off gas and power to many neighborhood homes after the explosion, DeGiulio said.

"This only reinforces why we don't want people going back into these houses," DeGiulio said.

DeGiulio was waiting in Munster Town Hall for a phone call with homeland security officials when the home blew, he said.

"It shook the building," DeGiulio said.

The echoing blast brought neighbors streaming out of homes and businesses, and the fire, emergency response and cleanup turned into a neighborhood event. Hundreds of people gathered at Broadmoor Avenue and Monroe Street to watch firefighters wade into 3 feet of water. The closest firetruck only could pull within 600 feet of the house, so firefighters hooked three 200 foot hoses together, a fireman said.

"I live over on Hohman, and it rocked my house," Eric Bohling said.

Steinken described a "sickening feeling" after he heard the explosion and saw a mushroom cloud of burning wood rising above the trees. Residents are weary.

"This has been one misery after the other," Steinken said.

Jim Flener, a neighbor to the exploded home, felt power and gas should have been cut to all homes before the blast.

"It could have been me down there," he said.

A NIPSCO spokesman said late Wednesday that crews are investigating, but he could not comment specifically on the circumstances surrounding the blast.