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House Explosion Shakes Harbor Springs Community, Investigation Ongoing

A house explosion in Harbor Springs early Tuesday morning shook the community and left one person dead.

The Emmet County Sheriff’s Office got the call and arrived to find a house completely destroyed just after 1 a.m.

Inside they found Robert Mangus, 73, and the family dog dead at the scene.

The shock of the explosion was so large it was even felt all the way in the next city over.

“This was heard all the way over in Petoskey,” said Sheriff Peter Wallin. “Actually our deputies heard it at the road patrol building which is probably eight miles to nine miles away. It was heard from that far away. It was quite the explosion.”

Parts of the house and debris were thrown all the area, and throughout the morning the neighbors could be seen picking up what they could.

Lauretta Reiss, who lives just a few doors down, said she thought a plane may have went down when she heard the noise.

“All of the sudden I heard this incredible boom,” said Reiss. “It was the loudest most deafening sound. I didn’t know what happened and the house shook.”

Reiss has previously lived in California and lived through many earthquakes, but this was something she’s never experienced before.

“I likened it to an earthquake because I’ve been through that, but this was worse,” said Reiss. “It was so sudden and the sound, the magnitude of it was just unbelievable–unbelievable and then silence.”

Sheriff Wallin says house explosions like these do happen and they’re sending their thoughts and prayers to the family.

“It’s amazing that nobody else was hurt or any other buildings were damaged that we’re aware of at this time,” said Sheriff Wallin.

The Sheriff’s Department and the Michigan State Police Fire Marshall Division are investigating what could have caused the explosion.

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