Wednesday
March 10, 2010
Man killed in Upland explosion
An explosion on Wednesday night, Oct. 7, killed a man and destroyed his home in Upland, Ind.
71-year-old Upland resident Jack Williams died after his single-story modular home exploded. According to Deputy Jason Ewer of the Grant County sheriff’s office, the home was completely destroyed in the blast, leaving only the detached garage standing.
Several nearby houses sustained minor damages as a result of the explosion. Ewer, the first county officer on the scene, speculates that the explosion was gas related.
“[The homeowner] was changing his house over from gas to [wood] and he capped some lines off,” said Ewer. “Possibly when he did that, it caused there to be a leak in the line.”
As said by Fox 59 News, Williams chose to convert the heat in his home due to the cost of propane gas. In the state of Indiana, residential propane costs roughly over $100 a week, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Although the specific reasons for the blast are unknown, the State Fire Marshall, who visited the scene on Thursday, Oct. 8, will determine the official cause for the home’s explosion.
Williams lived alone in his rural home, although numerous family members reside nearby. One of these family members is Williams’ brother, an Upland firefighter. Both family members and the residents of Grant County were shocked by the blast, which according to Deputy Ewer, could be heard “five or six miles away.”
However, the explosion is not the first of its kind in the area. According to Ewer, there was a similar blast in Grant County a year ago and other explosions have been occurring this year all over Indiana. Ewer said the fire marshal investigating the Upland explosion, who travels all over the state, had visited a total of three homes destroyed by gas-related explosions in the past two weeks. The frequency and seriousness of these occurrences serve to remind community members to be especially careful as they turn on their heat for the winter.
Kristi Jones, who has lived in Marion for the past six years, was surprised that something like the Upland home explosion could happen.
After hearing details about the tragedy, Jones said, “It’s a good reminder of how life is so fragile and how it can be gone in a moment.”
To Jones, William’s sudden death is “a reminder to love people fully because you don’t even know when they could be gone,” she said.
The explosion and fire happened just after 10 p.m. about a mile south of State Road 26.
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