A house in the center of the town of about 116,000 had exploded, sending debris 100 feet in each direction. At least three people were killed and one was injured, officials said. Thirty-nine houses were damaged by the explosion.
Authorities have not determined the cause of the explosion, which occurred on the 1000 block of North Weinbach Avenue, Evansville Fire Chief Mike Connelly told reporters at the scene Wednesday after -midday. He said the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was conducting a “blast analysis” at the site, temporarily halting the search for any missing residents.
“There could be other victims,” Connelly said. “We haven’t finished our search yet.”
It is not known if this search has resumed. Evansville Fire and Police Departments did not immediately respond to messages from The Washington Post. A message left with ATF was not immediately returned. A representative from the Vanderburgh County Coroner’s Office, which previously confirmed the three deaths to media, told the Post that no further information was available Wednesday evening.
Authorities have not publicly identified the victims.
A silent video of the explosion, filmed at the end of the street and published by WFIE, shows gray smoke and debris rising high in the air above a house surrounded by trees. Surveillance footage from a nearby home, published by the Evansville Courier & Press, shows a storm of debris raining down on the neighborhood immediately after the explosion.
“We thought a tree had fallen on the building or a car had hit the place,” Jacki Baumgart, who works in an office about two blocks from the site, told The Associated Press. blast. “Debris from the ceiling fell.”
“Everyone here immediately ran out of the building,” she added. “We thought the building was going to collapse.”
Vincent Taylor, who worked on a rooftop two blocks away, described the scene as “utter devastation”.
“A lot of people have lost everything here. Their homes have totally disappeared,” he told WFIE.
Firefighters said 11 of the 39 damaged houses are uninhabitable. The fire chief told reporters Wednesday afternoon that homes closest to the blast were in “poor condition” and some residents may not be able to return home for the rest of the week. He said the debris covered a 100-foot radius around the site of the explosion.
The house explosion is the second to occur in Evansville in recent years. In 2017, a natural gas explosion destroyed a home, killing two people and seriously injuring three, the Courier & Press reported. The surviving victims of the explosion sued CenterPoint Energy, alleging the utility was to blame, but lost after a judge dismissed the suit due to a lack of evidence, the newspaper reported.
Wednesday’s explosion took place a few blocks from the site of the 2017 explosion. The Evansville Police Department said in a Facebook post that the area would be closed for the “foreseeable future,” adding that his “thoughts are with those closely involved in the explosion”.
Other officials echoed their concerns.
“My heart goes out to the family and friends of those killed or injured in the devastating explosion in Evansville today,” said Rep. Ryan Hatfield (D) tweeted Wednesday. “I am in contact with the local authorities and I am monitoring this tragic situation closely.”
Connelly said the Red Cross responded and set up shelter for affected residents at a nearby elementary school.
Roxane Weber told WFIE she was worried about her neighbors, as well as the state of her own home.
“It’s mostly older people on that side,” Weber told the station. “It was as if a bomb had exploded near us. The whole left side of our house the windows have blown out, and I have cracks everywhere. It’s like having an old plaster house.
