Natural gas causes explosion in Saratoga Springs killing homeowner and a Questar Gas employee
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CALEB WARNOCK - Daily Herald
UTAH--A massive natural gas explosion destroyed a Saratoga Springs home Tuesday afternoon, killing two people inside. April Roper, 24, who had moved into the home less than a month ago with her husband and daughter, and 48-year-old Larry Radford, an employee of Questar Gas, died in the blast, said Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff's Office.
The daughter of the homeowners was flown to an area hospital by medical helicopter after suffering minor abrasions near her mouth, according to neighbors. The name of the daughter and husband of the victim were not released. The girl, believed to be about 2 years old, was outside near the home when the explosion occurred. "We are just lucky more people haven't been hurt," said Cannon, noting debris from the home flew several hundred feet.
The explosion happened after work crews punctured a natural gas line in the Harvest Meadows neighborhood near the home, Cannon said. Questar spokesman Darren Shepherd said the company got a call about the leak around 1:30 p.m. Questar employees repaired the 2-inch plastic gas line that serves the neighborhood and then evacuated nearby homes while it searched for gas.
At about 4 p.m., after gas had been shut off to the home for about 25 minutes, Roper and Radford went into the basement of the home to turn on the water heater and furnace, Cannon said. Two minutes later, an explosion leveled most of the home, leaving only part of the three-car garage standing.
Flames then engulfed the ruins. Because the remaining walls of the red brick home were unstable and swaying, crews had to wait at least two hours before they could begin slowly removing the debris to look for the victims, which were located minutes before 9 p.m. Shepherd said Questar is investigating the accident.
"We're just saddened by the whole incident and until we can get a little more information we probably won't have much to say until then," he said.
Eddie and Mindy Meyersick, who live in an adjacent home, said they were talking in their kitchen when the explosion happened. Eddie Meyersick ran to the scene, calling 911 on his cell phone as he went. He said he found the owner of the home weeping and screaming for his wife and led the owner a distance away, afraid there would be another explosion.
Meyersick said that as he ran toward the home, he was afraid he'd be hit by flying debris. A brown leather couch was flung onto the roof of a neighbor's home by the force of the explosion. Oak kitchen chairs and a child's booster seat could be seen on a nearby lawn. The family had just moved into the home about a month ago, said Mindy Meyersick.
Anne White said she too was in her home, which looks into the backyard of the destroyed home, when the explosion happened. She ran to her window to find most of the home gone, and called 911. "I'm not kidding, this house just exploded," she recalled saying when dispatchers initially seemed unsure if the call was real. Just after she called 911, a smaller second explosion occurred and the remains of the home were then engulfed in flames, she said.
About 10 p.m. Tuesday, a steady stream of white smoke flowed eastward from the home, eerily illuminated by banks of flood lights used by emergency crews. A blanket of smoke permeated the neighborhood.
Jeremy Duda contributed to this story.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.
UTAH--A massive natural gas explosion destroyed a Saratoga Springs home Tuesday afternoon, killing two people inside. April Roper, 24, who had moved into the home less than a month ago with her husband and daughter, and 48-year-old Larry Radford, an employee of Questar Gas, died in the blast, said Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff's Office.
The daughter of the homeowners was flown to an area hospital by medical helicopter after suffering minor abrasions near her mouth, according to neighbors. The name of the daughter and husband of the victim were not released. The girl, believed to be about 2 years old, was outside near the home when the explosion occurred. "We are just lucky more people haven't been hurt," said Cannon, noting debris from the home flew several hundred feet.
The explosion happened after work crews punctured a natural gas line in the Harvest Meadows neighborhood near the home, Cannon said. Questar spokesman Darren Shepherd said the company got a call about the leak around 1:30 p.m. Questar employees repaired the 2-inch plastic gas line that serves the neighborhood and then evacuated nearby homes while it searched for gas.
At about 4 p.m., after gas had been shut off to the home for about 25 minutes, Roper and Radford went into the basement of the home to turn on the water heater and furnace, Cannon said. Two minutes later, an explosion leveled most of the home, leaving only part of the three-car garage standing.
Flames then engulfed the ruins. Because the remaining walls of the red brick home were unstable and swaying, crews had to wait at least two hours before they could begin slowly removing the debris to look for the victims, which were located minutes before 9 p.m. Shepherd said Questar is investigating the accident.
"We're just saddened by the whole incident and until we can get a little more information we probably won't have much to say until then," he said.
Eddie and Mindy Meyersick, who live in an adjacent home, said they were talking in their kitchen when the explosion happened. Eddie Meyersick ran to the scene, calling 911 on his cell phone as he went. He said he found the owner of the home weeping and screaming for his wife and led the owner a distance away, afraid there would be another explosion.
Meyersick said that as he ran toward the home, he was afraid he'd be hit by flying debris. A brown leather couch was flung onto the roof of a neighbor's home by the force of the explosion. Oak kitchen chairs and a child's booster seat could be seen on a nearby lawn. The family had just moved into the home about a month ago, said Mindy Meyersick.
Anne White said she too was in her home, which looks into the backyard of the destroyed home, when the explosion happened. She ran to her window to find most of the home gone, and called 911. "I'm not kidding, this house just exploded," she recalled saying when dispatchers initially seemed unsure if the call was real. Just after she called 911, a smaller second explosion occurred and the remains of the home were then engulfed in flames, she said.
About 10 p.m. Tuesday, a steady stream of white smoke flowed eastward from the home, eerily illuminated by banks of flood lights used by emergency crews. A blanket of smoke permeated the neighborhood.
Jeremy Duda contributed to this story.
This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.
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