CRAWFORD COUNTY — A house exploded Saturday and killed its occupants, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
Crawford County Sheriff Ryan A. Swope said that on Oct. 14 at 4:11 p.m., deputies and other first responders were sent to a residence on Fruit Farm Road in Lovells Township that had reportedly collapsed.
After arriving on scene, first responders quickly realized that the house had not collapsed, but had exploded.
“This is a first that I know of , 18 years of working in Crawford County. I don’t ever remember having one of these. It looked like some of the videos that we had seen of the tornado that went through Otsego County. I could see where the caller had thought that it had collapsed because it was just the roof on top of the foundation,” said Swope.
The explosion is believed to be caused from a gas leak from inside the residence, the sheriff said.
At the time of the explosion, two people were inside the home: a 71-year-old man and 72-year-old, the sheriff said. Both were killed in the explosion.
The incident is under investigation, and foul play is not believed to be a factor, the sheriff said.
The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in this investigation by Lovells Township Fire Department, Frederic Township Fire Department, MMR and Michigan State Police Fire Investigation Unit.
