Two escape from Washington house after Monday morning explosion

WASHINGTON - Many Washington residents awoke early Monday morning to a 'chaotic and destructive” scene.

At 4 a.m., a loud explosion echoed through Washington.

The Washington County Communications Center received multiple calls of a house explosion at 1114 E Washington St., according to a news release. Neighbors reported seeing a ball of fire and hearing calls for help. Residents more than a mile away reported hearing the explosion.

The explosion left two injured and multiple houses with damage. By late afternoon, the exploded home had been leveled for safety reasons

Nearby resident Chad Zear had awakened around 3:15 a.m. to let their new puppy out. After heading back inside and settling into bed, Chad said he felt a large pressure.

'There was a fireball out the window and huge ‘boom,'” Chad said.

His wife, Michelle, said she saw the flash through closed eyes and felt the house shake.

The pair checked to see if it was possibly their garage, but when Chad looked out the bedroom window, he saw what had happened.

'I said, ‘Oh my god, their house is gone,'” Chad said.

Brian Pierson lives north of the exploded home on East Main Street. He awoke to a bright light in his bedroom window. Donning his pajamas and a pair of sandals, Pierson stepped outside to see small flames growing at the house sharing his backyard.

Down the street at 1204 E Main St, north of the Immanuel Lutheran Church, Mark Waltman and his wife were awakened by rumbling.

When Waltman opened his eyes, he saw an orange glow. After looking around, he got dressed and went to help.

Pierson called the police and was told assistance was on the way. Before the fire department arrived, he saw a police car fly by on South 12th Avenue, headed toward the scene.

Shortly after realizing what happened, Chad and Michelle Zear were dressed and running to help. A former fireman of 16 years, Chad said when he stepped outside of the house, it smelled like a burning house. Michelle said it smelled like burning hair.

Chad said the devastation and impact was unlike anything he has ever experienced.

When they reached the house, Michelle found a child wandering in the front yard and a UP Home nurse was running to help.

'I could see her in her scrubs, and I could see her running,” she said. 'She got to him before I could, and we carried him into the UP Home.”

The boy was in shorts and a T-shirt with no shoes. Michelle said there was only pieces remaining where the boy's room once was.

At the same time, another nurse was in the debris, trying to help the man out of the house. He was in the only part of the back apartment left standing.

'She was yelling for blankets and that's when the two policemen showed up,” Chad said.

The two officers jump right in without thinking twice, according to the Zears.

Initially, Chad said there was little fire, but started to gradually grow as the officers worked to free the man.

When the man was finally free, Chad started to clear a path but a possibly live wire stood between him and the officers.

'I said throw him on my back, and I'll get him in the ambulance,” Chad said.

The Washington Fire Department was dispatched at 4:09 a.m. and arrived at 4:17, according to dispatch logs. That was shortly after the man was loaded in the ambulance. Around 30 Washington firefighters and six Ainsworth firefighters responded, said Fire Chief Brendan DeLong.

When DeLong arrived on scene, there was a small fire on the north side of the building, and it only took around 15 minutes to extinguish. DeLong said there is always a level of caution when arriving at a scene of an explosion, but he said the teams was confident it was confined to the one event.

By the time Waltman arrived, the fire department was working to put out the flames. He found a scene that was 'chaotic and destructive.” When he returned home, Waltman checked his front door security camera, which had been set off by the shock wave.

The footage shows a ball of flames shooting into the sky. Waltman said it had to be significantly sized to be seen over the trees across the street.

One individual was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and another was transported to the Washington County Hospital, but was eventually transported to the University of Iowa burn unit., both with non-life threatening injuries, according to Police Chief Jim Lester.

The Zear's youngest son is close friends with the boy. After the chaos settled, Michelle brought him over to the UP Home to visit with the boy before he was taken to the hospital.

By the evening, the boy has called the Zear family from the hospital.

Debris was scattered up to two blocks away. The neighbor's house to the east sustained extensive damage. Many surrounding neighbors had shattered windows. Waltman has one cracked window, and Pierson's basement windows were shattered.

Along with shattered windows and structural damage, when Michelle returned to the house, the kitchen cabinets had burst open and glass was shattered on the floor. Picture frames and other wall décor had fallen due to the blast.

While picking up a few pieces of insulation scattered through his yard to throw away, Pierson found a family photo from the home and decided to hold on to it to give to the family.

Throughout the morning, residents viewed the destructive scene.

'Things can be replaced, people can't,” Pierson said. This sentiment was shared by many onlookers, asking others if the residents are OK.

The Red Cross was contacted to provide assistance to the residents, DeLong said. Community members have reached out to Chad and Michelle offering donations and the Washington Middle School has also offered to take care of monetary donations.

As the day wound down, Michelle said she felt like she hadn't slept in a week. Chad said he still feels a pressure in his chest.

After the fire was extinguished, the firefighters spent the rest of the morning into the afternoon taking a damage assessment and assisting the state fire marshal, DeLong said. By late afternoon, the house was deemed unsafe and knocked down.

As of Monday afternoon, there was no report regarding the cause of the fire. The case is being handled by the Washington Fire Department, and the State Fire Marshal's Office is conducting an investigation.

Washington Police Department, Ainsworth Fire Department Washington County Ambulance Service, Alliant Energy, Washington Public Works, Iowa Department of Transportation and Iowa State Patrol assisted at the scene.