Family Escapes Explosion That Destroyed Taunton Home
TAUNTON (CBS) – A family of five escaped a house explosion that leveled the home in Taunton early Wednesday morning.
It happened in a heavily wooded area on Laneway Street around 2:30 a.m. when Ingo Dutzmann said he and his family heard a loud boom and thought an ice dam had broken off their roof.
Instead, the family found their front door had been blown about 70 feet and windows had blown out as well.
When Dutzmann escaped the house, he found the rest of his family had already done the same.
"They were yelling for me because I was the only one they didn't know 'Am I OK?'," he said.
A fire broke out after the explosion, and nearly the entire home was destroyed.
Firefighters were forced to dig out the nearest hydrant which was buried in snow.
A propane leak likely caused the blast, which launched the home's front door into a nearby pond.
Dutzmann said the firefighters were surprised to see just how much damage was caused during the explosion.
"The whole thing was engulfed," said Dutzmann, whose home was built in 1908. "Even these guys, the professionals, say 'We rarely get a house this bad.'"
