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‘This Looks Like a War Zone’: Late-Night Explosion Razes Homes in Indianapolis Neighborhood

Nov. 11, 2012 8:15am Madeleine Morgenstern

Authorities say a loud explosion has leveled a home in Indianapolis and set four others ablaze in a neighborhood, causing several injuries. Capt. Rita Burris with the Indiana Fire Department told The Associated Press that firefighters are still working to put out the flames after the explosion around 11 p.m. Saturday Nov. 10, 2012. (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A roaring explosion that leveled two homes and set two others ablaze in a huge fire forced about 200 people from an Indianapolis neighborhood where two people were killed, authorities said Sunday. The powerful nighttime blast shattered windows, crumpled walls and inflicted other damage on at least 14 other homes.

Four people were taken to a hospital with minor injuries after the explosion and fire, the Indianapolis Fire Department said in a statement. Fire Lt. Bonnie Hensley said firefighters put out the flames and then went through the rubble and damaged homes one at a time in case people had been left behind. Two bodies have been recovered.

Some witnesses said in televised reports that they heard people screaming “help me! help me!” after the explosion and fire and that two parents and two children were safely pulled from one house that caught fire.

“This looks like a war zone; it really does,” Hensley told The Associated Press. “Police officers and fire department officials remain at the scene searching for other possible victims.” She said they used search lights until dawn as they peered into the damaged and ruined homes.

The fire department has not released the names of those killed. Hensley said one body was found in one of the leveled homes after the fire was put out.

The explosion at 11 p.m. Saturday destroyed two houses that were side by side and spread fire to two other nearby homes in the neighborhood on the south side of Indianapolis. Hensley said at least 14 other homes were damaged in the area by the blast’s shock wave or flying debris.

The blast was heard for miles around. Authorities said they had no immediate information on the cause. The fire department and other agencies were investigating.

People who were asleep when the blast happened were evacuated in their pajamas, scooping up their pets as they left, authorities said. They left what some described as a chaotic scene of tall flames rising on the Indianapolis skyline.

Survivors reported shattered windows, caved-in walls and garage doors knocked off their hinges. Of the two homes that were leveled by the blast, Hensley said: “There’s nothing left.”

Bryan and Trina McClellan were at home with their 23-year-old son Eric when the shock wave from the blast a block away shook their home. It knocked out the windows along one side of their house, and their first instinct was to check on their grandchildren, two toddlers who were in the basement. One was holding his ears and saying “Loud noise, loud noise.”

Eric McClellan said he ran afterward to the scene of the explosion and saw homes flat or nearly so.

“Somebody was trapped inside one of the houses, and the firefighters were trying to get to him. I don’t know if he survived,” he said, adding that firefighters ordered him to leave the area.

All power, gas and other utilities in the area were shut off as a precaution as emergency officials swarmed the site.

About 200 people were taken to an elementary school, where some milled about in pajamas and coats they had grabbed as they fled. Some had their dogs on leashes, and one woman had evacuated her home with a cat. Most eventually left to stay with relatives, friends or at hotels, but 15 to 25 remained through the night, sleeping on cots.

Paramedics attend to the some of the people hurt from the multiple home explosions on the southside of Indianapolis Saturday Nov. 10, 2012. (AP)

Pam Brainerd, a 59-year-old hospice nurse, said she was asleep when the explosion blew out the upstairs windows in her house.

“I was sleeping on the sofa and all of a sudden, my upstairs windows were blowing out and my front door was falling in,” Brainerd said. “My front door came off the frame. It was the largest bang I’ve ever heard.”

She stepped outside and saw what she described tall flames one street away. “There was a house engulfed in flames, and I could see it spreading to other houses,” she added.

This post has been updated.

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Comments (53)

Something is Wrong
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 11:48pm
I see a lot of people saying “gas main” or “meth lab” and I don’t think either one of those is accurate. The clue to look for is in the photo of the debris where the house was flattened. While there is some kind of a fire blazing in the background, the debris of the house itself is pretty much clean with no signs of scorching. A gas main would produce a huge explosive fire ball that would likely burn at such a high temperature that it would either burn or at the very least scorch whatever it came in contact with. To completely flatten two homes, it would have to be a seriously huge fireball thus increasing the amount of scorching and flame that would result. The debris would most likely be burning, not just laying there. Same basic story with a meth lab. This looks to be from a more concussive explosion rather than an incendiary explosion. There will always be some element of fire present in any explosion which is where you would expect to see some kind of burning and the disruption of gas mains in neighboring buildings would also be a source of flames but fire was most likely not prominent in this explosion. That raises some questions like “what explosive was used” and “where did it come from” and the possibilities are disturbing at best. Just for a little background on where I’m coming from: I was a bomb loader in the USAF and although I am no expert I do know a little about bomb types and the effects they produce.

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- Something is Wrong
  Posted on November 12, 2012 at 12:10am
  Not to mention that this flattened 2 homes completely. No residual framing or anything at all left standing. I would look for a source of the blast somewhere near the middle of the two homes. If one home had exploded from a gas main or some kind of meth lab with the same kind of explosive force exhibited here then I would expect to see complete obliteration of the house involved with complete to nearly complete obliteration of both its neighbors. If I were there I would start looking for any signs of other debris or fragmentation or any kind of chemical residue. That would be the best clue as to what caused this explosion.
  
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- sillyfreshness
  Posted on November 12, 2012 at 4:17am
  I bet the Tea Party did it. The Democrats (Communists) have already labeled the Tea Party as “terrorists” so that would be my first suspect to go after. Where is ‘smiling’ Joe Blow Biden to accuse the Tea Party of this incident?
  
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- NeilChapin
  Posted on November 12, 2012 at 6:15am
  I know in Cleveland these explosions are ignited on purpose after theives still the copper plumbing from houses. Read fresh political commentary at: http://smallcraftadvisorychronicles.blogspot.com/
  
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- PoQNDI
  Posted on November 12, 2012 at 11:35pm
  If this is true, we are screwed! Be sure to read the WHOLE article at the link, for an eye-0pener regarding true targets.
  
  http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2012/11/massive-explosion-reported-after-cia-drone-targets-indianapolis-2494184.html
  
  Date: Sun, 11 Nov
  2012 08:53:22 -0600
  Subject: Massive
  Explosion Reported After CIA Drone Targets Indianapolis
  
  November 11, 2012
  
  Massive
  Explosion Reported After CIA Drone Targets Indianapolis
  
  By: Sorcha
  Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
  
  [A chilling
  report circulating in the Kremlin this afternoon released
  by the Aerospace
  Defence Forces (VKO) states that Kosmos 2479 detected
  the firing of two
  AGM-114 Hellfire missiles from a MQ-1 Predator drone
  yesterday being
  operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) over
  the United States
  city of Indianapolis that resulted in a massive
  explosion [photo
  2nd left], and from local US media reports resulted
  in at least two
  deaths.
  
  Kosmos 2479 is
  an early warning satellite launched in 2012 as part of
  the VKO’s Oko
  programme and monitors the US from geostationary orbit
  for all possible
  threats, including the tracking of American airspace
  for US Air Force
  and CIA fighter jets, bombers and drones.
  
  The CIA’s MQ-1
  Predator drones, equipped with two fearsome AGM-114
  Hellfire missiles,
  have been described as President Obama’s “weapon of
  choice” and are
  currently most noted for bringing to Pakistan the same
  horror that
  Hitle
  
  Report this comment
truthbetold68
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:07pm
My prespicacity tells me, while the rest of us sit idealy by as this administration fights aginst GOD and Country. Some would like to do in those whom protect use at levels unseen. This smells of covert assaination of guardians of our freedoms. hail KIng Jesus Obama you will BOW Before him.

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HankTheAmerican
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:01pm
This has to be a propane explosion. I used to live in southern Michigan and a house had exploded 3 miles from my own and had caused doors to open with a massive, quick blast of wind. It turned out the family (adults out shopping, the kids all died) had stored propane canisters in their basement and one had leaked and of course one tank explosion caused the others to explode.

This scene looks exactly the same as the Michigan explosion and based on that this is why I assume propane canisters.

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DavidintheD
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 6:46pm
Predator strike?

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MY WASR10 SAYS IM FREE
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 5:33pm
Some re-loaders powder stash probably went up.

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thegreatcarnac
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 3:57pm
First of many explosions since Obama and Jarett decided to start blowing up everyone who voted against him.

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redfrog63
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 11:54am
Lost a job; behind on mortgage; life no longer viable; don’t want bank to possess home. Boom! Bye Bye!

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lbk
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 11:54am
Gas explosion would be my guess. Getting to be a regular event. I am lucky, our gas company keeps up on their lines..They just replaced the lines out on our street this past year and every three years, they come in and run a test to be sure everything is ok in the house. Problem with most gas companies, they are run by the city and we all know how they take care of things.

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redfrog63
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 11:52am
In my opinion, someone lost their job; and is now behind on the mortgage; life sucks now, and they decided to end it and not let the bank take the house. Just an opinion….

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Uechi
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 11:43am
Gas leak or Meth lab that set off gas

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- randy
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 11:47am
  Check for any mosques nearby
  
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- Jake Dog2
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 4:31pm
  Yes meth lab.
  
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DivisionByZero
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 10:44am
Probably natural gas or propane. We had a similar incident in my city 20 years ago. House fills with gas and boom. If I’m wrong and it was diesel/ fertilizer then look for Muslims.

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Niferno
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 10:40am
Anybody else notice the FOR SALE sign in the first photo??

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- KingCanon
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 10:49am
  Yes. Apparently the sign is indestructible!
  
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- rickc34
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 11:57am
  Yes, I guess if you cannot sell it blow it up? My heart and prayers goes out to the family’s and the death of the 2 individuals .
  
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- RightThinking1
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 1:52pm
  Yes…, it it may be non-coincidental.
  
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Steve Crisp
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 10:28am
That was no meth lab. Cocaine processing facility, perhaps, but meth labs are not going to do that kind of damage. It takes barrels of ether to create an explosion that large. Go check out the images at indystar.com for aerial views.

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scrapadapolis
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 10:20am
Thats what happens when you operate a bomb building course in your house and ackmed slept through the part about how not to disarm your vest,

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1_Smoot_Tall
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 10:12am
Interesting, here is coverage of a similar event 2 hours away from Indianapolis in a Louisville suburb (Okolona):

http://www.wave3.com/story/16197047/house-fire-burning-in-okolona

Hmmmmmm.

I had a gas line rupture underground 3 feet from my newly built home in December 2011 (plastic tubing from the street to the house). The plastic water pipe busted in the exact same spot a few weeks later.

They basically lobby to obtain code approval for the cheap stuff. Then they use the cheap stuff to build these homes with only a 1 or 2 year warranty and they assume no responsibility once the homes pass inspection. Then things go wrong, people die, homes are destroyed, and it’s the insurance company’s responsibility to fix everything and the family’s responsibility to mourn.

As a commercial contractor I recommend NEVER…E-V-E-R buy a home built after 1990.

If it has to be new, doing the research then building it yourself is the only way to go.

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GuruMeditation
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:58am
Probably a meth lab.

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- Walkabout
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 10:25am
  The house has a brick facade & is of newer construction. I was expecting a 50 year old neighborhood with a corroded gas main as the cause of the explosion.
  
  Maybe lack of owner maintenance of the gas furnace or gas waterheater?
  
  Meth lab is not out of the question.
  
  Report this comment
piplovestheUSA
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:34am
When your enemy is destroying itself it is best to stay out of the way. I don’t think we will be attacked as long as we have BHO in charge.

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- barber2
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:59am
  PIP: Problem is the Obama folks hang around with some very unethical people in that ” winning ” is everything crowd. Like Hitler and Stalin, they agree to ” deals ” but only in their own best interest. Then break them and turn on one another. When you make deals with bad people, you often get destroyed. Right now the bunch is riding the ” let’s change the old despotic capitalist dictator ” Express bus. Sadly, these weasels all have a different destination in mind. Will NOT be a pretty exit experience.
  
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- AbrahamsSheepdog
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 10:32am
  @barber. And they crash bus as they leave. Just let the guy drive. Kids love joyrides. We prob have crazy stuff right under our knoses.
  
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- piplovestheUSA
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 11:11am
  Add your comments
  
  Report this comment
Cymry
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:12am
A little preview of what the cities will look like after the economy crashes…….again, thanks barry.

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- RightUnite
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:26am
  That was my first thought…. And they’ll be thinking… How could this have happened?? DOH!
  
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AJAYW
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:12am
wow

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shephound
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 8:59am
This is about 3.3 miles from our house. Heard and felt the explosion here, but thankfully it appears we have no damage. The debris shows that one of the two houses that blew, blew from the inside out. It is most likely a gas leak/explosion, but could be a few things. One local report said that the initial house that blew was owned by a woman with two kids, who were not home, but no word on her boyfriend; another story said a man from that house was taken to the hospital. That all may pan out to be bogus once facts are sifted out. Just playing messenger. Pray for the folks affected.

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Salamander
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 8:57am
Meth lab? Natural gas? Weapons cache? It’s a bit odd that nobody who was in the area has a clue! Or, maybe the media did the responsible thing and is giving the investigators time to determine the cause before speculating as to what might have caused it! Oops, did I just speculate?

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- shephound
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:08am
  @Salamander, your three options were the first three in my head too; I’d be fairly surprised if it was something illegal going on there, but you never know.
  
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- claymoremacm
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 10:13am
  yes a cash of that rascaly ammo stash did this…..get a grip!!!
  
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- Frederick_Douglass_Republican
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 3:52pm
  Ammo = no mass explosion. Popcorn in a fire but no mass explosion. This might have been a perfect mix of gas and air in the entire house that ignited with perfectly unfortunate timing. If it was fireworks there would be more burns to homes in the area since burning components usually fly out a greater distance. 15 pounds or so of flash powder (stuff in firecrackers) maybe? It was sure hot whatever it was from how black the middle houses remains are. The adjacent buildings were also exposed to great heat.
  
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Female
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 8:55am
A video or sex under the desk and I am sorry the fire marshall won’t be able to answer any questions he is going on a cruise to the Bahamas.

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- Apple Bite
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:23am
  Most appropriate response yet.
  
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loriann12
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 8:39am
Does anyone remember the Chuck Norris flick, Invasion USA? Terrorist went to a cozy little neighborhood where it looked like they didn’t even lock their doors and fired RPG’s into houses to cause panic? NOT saying that’s what happened here, but a quiet neighborhood where a house suddenly explodes, taking another with it, and damaging 14 others, does make one wonder.

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- momrules
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 8:51am
  Loriann I wonder about how every event like this might be related to terrorism. We know America is inundated with terrorist cells. It is just a matter of time as to where and when they strike.
  
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- poorrichard09
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 8:59am
  Yup, that or a gas leak, or maybe a meth lab are my best guesses.
  
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- KingCanon
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:33am
  This incident will probably be an accident, however, your point should be considered as worthy within the times we live. If the latter is the case it’s all part of the constant fear our enemy wishes upon “we the people”. A fear will lead to rebellion or suppression, either of which, Islam is prepared to control.
  
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- loriann12
  Posted on November 12, 2012 at 6:52am
  I ead a previous comment about how houses built after 1990 use inferior materials, like the PVC piping that’s only warrented a couple years. Makes me wonder just how long the left has been at destroying Ameica…..make regulations that some companies don’t have to follow, invade our schools and reteach history, etc. I’m glad I live in a house built in 1972, now.
  
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kickagrandma
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 8:20am
DEAR LORD, please continue protecting and loving us. We thank YOU for YOUR presence with us. Sometimes, GOD, YOU do come to us in the form of our four-legged best friends. Thank YOU for loving us that much.

Thank YOU for sparing the lives and home that were spared. Thank YOU for immediate help. In JESUS’ SWEET AND MIGHTY NAME we do pray, amen.

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- barber2
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:20am
  KICK: Thank you for a your gift of saying a thoughtful prayer at a time like this.
  
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- piplovestheUSA
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 9:36am
  Amen
  
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GeorgieJo
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 8:19am
Must be Obummers fault.

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- circleDwagons
  Posted on November 11, 2012 at 8:43am
  Bush’s fault
  
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