An explosion that flattened a vacant house and damaged 48 other structures in West Dayton Monday was caused by natural gas, but the circumstances leading to the incident are "suspicious," Dayton Assistant Fire Chief Michael Caudill said Tuesday.
"We are certain that it was a natural gas explosion," Caudill said, standing across the street from rubble that used to be a house at 515 Brooklyn Ave. "Exactly what ignited the explosion we are unsure of right now. We may never be able to be certain on what started the explosion."
He added that it's possible there were rookie scrapping thieves in the home taking out copper pipes before the home exploded.
"If somebody is not sure what they're doing and they try and take out the piping from the gas line, that could be where a gas line starts leaking," Caudill said. "Experienced scrappers (are) probably not a problem. Inexperienced scrappers that don't know what they're doing, it could be a big problem. We've got a lot of speculation. We don't have any serious conclusion."
Minor injuries were reported, officials said, and the blast was felt and heard several blocks away.
On Tuesday, the neighborhood near the corner of Brooklyn and Kammer avenues was bustling with insurance adjusters, investigators, Time Warner Cable officials making repairs and crews razing some structures that were damaged beyond repair. Arson investigators from the State Fire Marshal's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms also have been involved, but Caudill said the ATF's portion is complete.
One investigator said the explosion threw debris a block away and shattered windows on several houses in the area. Other homes sustained structural damage.
"When we got out of our car and came in, we found our house a mess," said neighbor Barbara Felton of the explosion that happened just before 10:18 a.m. Monday. "Dishes out of the cabinets, cracks in the wall, pictures knocked down, curtains down, blinds down, windows broken."
Caudill said homeowners who suspect damage should call their insurance adjusters to have them check the houses for structural integrity, and that city inspectors will assist. One man, Fred Harris, thanked the Red Cross for finding lodging for his mother while her house was being checked out.
"I feel blessed," said Felton, whose insurance company visited Tuesday. "My house can be repaired."
Some residents said they smelled gas before Monday's explosion. Neighbor Allen Cannon said he and another person smelled gas between five and 10 minutes before the explosion, but that he went back inside his house. "Boom," Cannon said, describing the blast. "I thought we were at war."
Vectren spokeswoman Chase Kelley said the company has no record of residents reporting gas odor or leaks in the area. Additionally, it was pure coincidence that a Vectren employee was scheduled Monday afternoon to read the meter inside the house that blew up, she said.
"This home had an indoor gas meter," Kelley said. "Throughout the winter, we had been estimating those reads, if you will, because the homeowner would not grant us access to go in and read the meter."
Kelley said homeowner Daniel Brown finally agreed and Vectren was going to put a radio-controlled device on the meter so the meter-reader could read it without going indoors. "It was not at all related to any gas odors or leaks," she said. "We treat gas leak calls very, very seriously. We respond 24 hours a day. There is no fee, so that would have stood out if there had been an issue."
There are several vacant homes in the neighborhood, and it's possible that they still have gas service. But Denny Zimmer, acting supervisor for Dayton's nuisance abatement department, said it wouldn't be feasible to track which vacant homes still have active gas service.
Zimmer said that only when a property is approved for demolition is a contractor required to have a signed statement from DP&L and Vectren that the electricity and gas are turned off.
A house at 519 Brooklyn Ave., which is next to the one that exploded and also belonged to Brown, had to be razed because it was beyond repair.
Montgomery County Property records show both three-bedroom, two-story homes with basements were built in 1925. In 2012, 515 Brooklyn was valued at $38,400 and 519 Brooklyn was valued at $36,790.
Officials said if people smell gas they should exit their home and call both their gas provider and fire department. They also said the full investigation could take weeks.
Caudill said natural gas has a "narrow explosive range" from 5 percent to 14 percent and that it won't explode outside of that range. He said the last natural gas explosion he remembers in Dayton was in 2012.
"There have been other incidents over the years, but nothing to this extent," Caudill said. "When there's a leak in a defined place, that's when it becomes a serious problem."
