ASSOCIATED PRESS July 24, 2012 2:54PM
Emergency personnel work the scene around a house after an explosion on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 in Wilson, N.Y. The blast leveled the house killing a girl and injuring her parents and two siblings, authorities said. Sarah Johnson's body was found in the debris at the rear of the home, Niagara County Undersheriff Michael Filicetti said. Authorities weren't sure of her age but believe she was between 12 and 14. Filicetti said her parents and two siblings were blown clear and were found in the front yard by the first deputy to arrive on the scene. All four were being treated at a Buffalo hospital for serious injuries, he said. (AP Photo/Stephen M Wallace)
WILSON, N.Y. (AP) — An early morning blast leveled a two-story house in a rural part of western New York on Tuesday, killing a girl and injuring her parents and two siblings, authorities said.
The occupants told investigators they had detected an odor of propane a day earlier, but it was unclear what action was taken, if any, Niagara County Undersheriff Michael Filicetti said. The cause of the explosion was being investigated.
The force of the 6 a.m. explosion in the town of Wilson, about 30 miles north of Buffalo, reduced the large home to a pile of waist-high rubble that caught fire. It blew in a basement window and knocked pictures from the wall of the nearest neighboring home, about 100 yards away.
Four of the occupants were apparently thrown forward toward the road and survived. Sarah Johnson's body was found about four hours later in the debris at the rear of the home. Authorities weren't sure of her age but believe she was between 12 and 14.
"I heard a blast like nothing I've ever heard before in my life," said next-door neighbor Matthew Henderson, who at first thought his own house may have been struck by lightning. He said he rushed to a rear window and saw tufts of yellow insulation and papers blowing around the lawn.
"I knew it wasn't coming from here," he said. "Then I looked out (a side) window and saw the lack of the neighbor's house altogether."
Henderson said he rushed next door and found the injured victims distraught and disoriented amid broken glass, window frames and other debris.
"The father was on his elbows and knees and had his head buried in his hands on the driveway," he said. "They were calling for Sarah."
"I can't imaging they were able to comprehend what was going on," Henderson said. "I was disoriented myself."
All four survivors were being treated at a Buffalo hospital for serious injuries, including burns and cuts, Filicetti said.
Two other children weren't home at the time of the blast, which Filicetti said could be felt at the sheriff's communications center about four miles away.
The explosion occurred on a sparsely developed stretch of rural road, where a garage and barn remained standing on the property Tuesday. A basketball backboard and hoop mounted on a black pole stood out against the pile of smoldering rubble.
Neighbor Nate Reynolds said he was sleeping when a loud noise woke him up. At first he thought it was thunder, but soon began getting text messages from friends saying there had been an explosion.
"It's sounded like a sonic boom," said Reynolds, who lives about 100 yards from the scene. "It shook my whole house."
Other neighbors said they heard and felt the blast, then saw a ball of flame rise over the house. Scores of firefighters from several local volunteer companies put out the blaze.
"It just seems like a nightmare. I'm in shock," neighbor Pam Henderson said. "My heart goes out to the family."
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