Investigators: Gas leak contributed to deadly home explosion

By James Felton and Stephen Borowy

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    FLINT, Michigan (WNEM) — Investigators have concluded a natural gas leak contributed to the deadly explosion at a home on Hogarth Avenue in Flint last November, but the ignition source remains a question.

The explosion killed a 4-year-old girl and a 55-year-old woman and damaged 30 nearby homes.

“They did determine it was a gas leak in the home that was in the basement, located in the basement,” said Flint Fire Chief Raymond Barton.

He attended a five-hour meeting in Kent County this week that included law enforcement, fire investigators, insurers, and private companies.

They examined all of the evidence recovered from the blast.

“Anything that was tied to like gas, had gas dryer, a hot water heater was removed, furnace, pieces of gas piping, trying to reconstruct possibly where it could’ve started, what caused the ignition,” Barton said.

But Barton says there was just too much damage to the evidence.

“The cause of the leak and the ignition source that caused the explosion was undetermined,” Barton said.

That acknowledgment leaves at least one neighbor shaking his head.

“I just don’t understand how you can’t know what happened after all this time,” said Vincent Arini.

Arini lives a stone’s throw from where the explosion occurred, saying the blast lifted him out of his chair and damaged his home. He said he’s disappointed investigators can’t paint a more clear picture.

“I wouldn’t want to lose a family member in an explosion like that and not know why it happened,” Arini said. “It would bother me for the rest of my life.”

Barton says he sympathizes with residents affected by the deadly explosion.

“When something like that happens, you want to know exactly what happened,” Barton said. “Because if you know what happened you can prevent it from happening again.”

Consumers Energy has maintained its equipment was working properly.

It released a statement saying investigators’ findings are consistent with those of company investigators, and that its sympathies go out to all those affected by the explosion.

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