North Carolina men caught in explosion dug their way out of basement, neighbor says

By Hannah Mackenzie

Click here for updates on this story

    HENDERSON COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — Crews are working to determine the cause of a home explosion in Henderson County on Wednesday.

Henderson County men caught in explosion dug their way out of basement, neighbor says

According to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, the explosion happened about 1 p.m. at a home off Kyles Creek Road near Fletcher. Two people inside the home at the time of the explosion were airlifted to Mission Hospital then transported to a burn center. There’s been no word on the extent of their injuries.

“The house shook substantially,” said Ronald Van Blarcum, who lives about a quarter-mile down the mountain from the explosion site. “And there was a subsequent aftershock.”

Van Blarcum said he called 911. And shortly after that, his dogs began barking – alerting him to something outside.

“Two gentlemen appeared at my door, and they were obviously very badly hurt – burned and lacerations,” Van Blarcum said. “For a split second, I thought it was some kind of hoax or something.”

It wasn’t a hoax. It was his neighbors.

“They told me that a gas company had filled their tanks either yesterday or the day before,” Van Blarcum said. “They also told me they were down in the basement, which is where the gas and hot water tank is. They said they both smelled gas and the hot water tank was making noises. I’m not sure what the noises were, but it was some point very shortly thereafter that the entire thing let go.”

After the explosion, Van Blarcum said his neighbors dug themselves out of the rubble and began walking down the mountain to his house.

“It’s a very rough road, it’s steep. And for them to have both climbed out of the what I believe I can see is rubble of the basement and getting down here was no easy fix for them,” Van Blarcum said.

Crews remained on scene 10 hours after the explosion. The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, Henderson County Fire Marshal’s Office, Fletcher Fire & Rescue and surrounding fire departments responded to the incident.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.