(Bomb?) Explosion and Fire - Holden Hill

At 02:14Hrs on Sunday October 23 there was a huge explosion at 2 Falcon Street Holden Hill destroying the house that was previously standing there. We live about a kilometre away and the blast still shook our house. A few minutes after the explosion we headed out looking for the blast site, we could see the orange cloud of smoke in the distance and headed in that direction and then we came across this. Initially when we arrived the electricity lines were sparking up but then ETSA shut off the power. The Fire Department had arrived on scene in about five minutes and were very quick to bring the fire under control. The explosion happened within the house as the walls and door/window frames have all been blasted away from the house out onto the surrounding roads and properties. Nearby surrounding houses had their windows smashed by the blast sending flying glass pieces inside lounge rooms and bedrooms where people were sleeping and watching television. Fences and garage doors were buckled and twisted from the force of the blast. Could be a clandestine meth lab gone wrong or maybe something more sinister? Perhaps just an accidental gas leak? Whatever the cause the blast basically destroyed this house and caused lots of debris to spread over a large area. Was quite scary and not the sort of thing you want happening in your neighbourhood. UPDATE: Police have detained a man at Wangaratta Hospital in Victoria after he arrived there seeking treatment for his injuries. The man is the owner of the property, he was seen emerging from the rubble immediately after the blast. He staggered unsteadily on his feet to an awaiting late 90's Toyota Camry sedan which then left the scene along Tarton Ave. Amazing that anyone survived this blast, depending on the severity of his injuries there is a possibility he may not survive.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Fire
• Blast
• Bomb
• Bang
• Destruction
• debris
• schrapnel
• Boom
• house
• demolition
• home
• damage
• dynamite
• tnt
• gas
• Fireworks
• fireman
• police
• firetruck
• neighbour

[computer5892]

must of been really scary im not joking around i mean it

i wouldn't like that to be my house, thank goodness nobody was in the house and that the neighbors were ok but their houses weren't.

[painJm1]

@computer5892 Actually we have CCTV and watching the replay you can see how much force there is from the blast, the shockwave was felt for km. The camera rocks and then seconds later It looks like it snowing because of all the dust falling in front of the IR led's. Was good to be able to go back to the time of the blast to see how it looked on the cams.

[THESOVIETCRIMSON]

kids...

[painJm1]

@THESOVIETCRIMSON Very lucky no serious injuries other than the man responsible, and quite frankly I don't care for him at all, he has put many innocent people's lives at risk, including children.

[Smoodge2008]

Not a Meth Lab, not a gas leak, no gas to the house. Seems at this stage to be a deliberate act from the previous tenants, who apprentaly didnt get along with the owner. Whats quite intresting is the cops still havent got hold of the owner. I was chatting to the cop out the from who said that someone told him that someone crawled out of the rubble after the explosion, hard to believe that, but anything is possible. I hope we get to find out what happened.

[painJm1]

@Smoodge2008 Yes seems as though it may be something to do between the owner and the previous tenants, especially when I heard on the news that they were both fighting each other hand to hand on the property only a couple of weeks before. Its not normal for landlords and tenants to be be physically fighting in such a way. If was just petrol reminds me of the Pirie st. insurance fraud explosion a couple years ago, even one tin of petrol and the right vapour air mix can cause a huge blast.

[WarblesOnALot]

@painJm1 G'day... It'd be interesting to know the Insurance Status & Policy-History of the house...(?). It doesn't sound like Petrol Vapour, so much as an LPG Cylinder on it's side, gently leaking on the floor ; with an Ignition Source up around Head-height, a Candle would do it... When the gas fills the lower half of the House/Room, & reaches the flame, it detonates. High School Bunsen-Burners in Science- Labs are FAMOUS for deconstructing in the dark.

[Cowmangii]

@painJm1 plz somebody think of the children lol

[Telstra88]

I used to go to school with the kid who used to live there back in the 90's. I wonder if he's seen the news on TV?? .. I'm shocked!

[Smoodge2008]

@painJm1 I see that the owner is number one suspect. What a tool. Maybe he should have done his research on fuel/air mixe ratios before deciding to do this. I was speaking to my neighbour who was 1st on the scene and he told me that there was a wall of flame around the house and it was very hazy, so in hindsight petrol seems likely, didnt seem like it on the night though. I hope the wanker gest a long time in jail, anybody who does something like this has no regard for other people.

[THESOVIETCRIMSON]

@painJm1 real shame, i was in Canberra for the RMC Duntroon Queen's Colours Parade.(video on channel)

[tigerwhite007]

scary used to live 4 houses down 2 years ago... the amount of car crashes...bloody fights and vandalism that happened on Tarton Road was ridiculous the area needs more police watch I think... this is coming from a person who lived there the past 14 years