“We don’t want to be next,” Oklahoma City neighbors still searching for answers after explosive levels near home
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – A subway neighborhood is still scratching its head, wondering why a nearby area house suddenly exploded Last Friday. Several neighbors told News 4 they believe it was a gas leak. However, Oklahoma Natural Gas said it is still investigating and has not found any gas leaks to date.
“We have small children. We don’t want to be next,” said Linsey Davenport, who lives below.
Caleb Biles, another neighbor, told KFOR: “I worry about whether I should stay here.
Around 3 p.m. on December 3, a house near Northwest 40NS and Penn suddenly exploded, sending debris everywhere.
“I ran outside and looked for a branch, or something on the roof of my house. Then I looked down the street and there was just a big cloud of smoke and a lot of paper going up into the air. The house is gone, people are running down to see what happened,” Biles said.
Davenport said: “I immediately jumped up, because I thought something had hit my house. “I ran down there and when I saw what happened, I was terrified. And, I am very sad that that person has lost everything”.
Nearby neighbors rushed to the house, ready to help immediately.
“Imagine, it could be us,” Davenport said.
Thankfully, no one was at home.
However, people nearby told KFOR that they smelled a strong smell of natural gas.
“I heard them say it was related to a gas leak,” said Davenport.
Minutes after the explosion, Biles said he called Oklahoma Natural Gas to check on his home.
“They came in that night to check our meters and water heaters,” he said. “They told me all of these systems are low-pressure and they haven’t really seen this happen before and highly suspect it’s the system at fault.”
Oklahoma Natural Gas said the company is still investigating and provided News 4 with this statement:
“Preliminary results from the Oklahoma Natural Gas investigation ‘into the 2017 NW 40th Street incident found no leak on the Oklahoma Natural Gas system’. The investigation included surveying the surrounding area. Oklahoma Natural Gas’ meter is located next to the home that suffered the incident damage. Investigations into the cause of the incident continue.
Our review of records shows that Oklahoma Natural Gas responded to an outside smell call the week before the incident occurred at another residence. The smell call was investigated at the time and no leaks were identified.”
Meanwhile, Davenport says she’s not for sale.
“I am still scared,” she said. “I’ll call within the next day when I’m on vacation, have them come out so I can be here when they come.”
KFOR has contacted the owner several times but has not heard back.
https://kfor.com/news/local/we-dont-want-to-be-next-oklahoma-city-neighbors-still-searching-for-answers-after-explosion-levels-nearby-home/ “We don’t want to be next,” Oklahoma City neighbors still searching for answers after explosive levels near home
