Trouble at home
Victims, neighbors recall horror of local house blastsBy DARCIE LORENO / Tribune Chronicle
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Fact Box
1. Nov. 8, 2000
7861 and 7863 Raglan Drive, Howland
The cause was thought to be from a natural gas leak, but was never official. Loss to the duplexes was estimated at between $125,000 and $150,000 and the blast knocked pictures off walls and damaged cars up and down the street. The duplex was rebuilt. No criminal charges were filed.
2. July 11, 2004
2405 Wood Lenhart Road, Warren Township
The explosion was believed to have been caused by natural gas trapped in the basement and attic after the homeowner removed a capped pipe in the wall. No criminal charges were filed.
3. Nov. 23, 2004
1385 Raccoon Drive, Howland
An explosion leveled the home and damaged at least 25 other homes, three severely. The homeowner had reported smelling gas that morning. The incident occurred after a worker tightened a connection in the stove. No criminal charges were filed. The home was rebuilt.
4. May 31, 2006
844 Mercer Ave. N.E., Warren
James McElrath Jr., then 19, of Niles pleaded guilty to a charge of felony vandalism; Michael A. McVicker, then 20, of Warren was charged with felony attempted burglary and misdemeanor criminal damaging. The two reportedly stole copper piping, which led to the blast. The home was not rebuilt.
5. July 1, 2006
471 Oriole Place, Warren
A natural gas explosion leveled the home. Minimal damage occurred at nearby homes, and debris buried vehicles. No criminal charges were filed and the home was not rebuilt.
6. May 20, 2007
103 Poplar Ave., Niles
A home exploded with windows at nearby homes blown out. Damage at the home was estimated at $50,000, and the blast was caused by broken natural gas lines to appliances. The home wasn't leveled, but was later demolished by the city. No criminal charges were filed.
7. Sept. 18, 2008
824 Washington Ave., Girard
The home was destroyed and more than 50 nearby damaged, with one burning to the ground. Donald F. Shelley, 426 North Ave., is facing two charges of aggravated arson, vandalism and breaking and entering after authorities said he stole copper and metal from the vacant home. A civil lawsuit also has been filed.
A few days before Thanksgiving 2004, Nick Macrinos and his two young children left their Howland home and headed down the road for a bite to eat.
It was about 5 p.m.
With his wife, Tracey, still at work, Macrinos, Stephanie, then 7, and Nick Jr., then 11, entered Raptis Restaurant on Niles-Cortland Road and were walking to their table when the whole building shook. After sitting down and getting a cup of coffee, Macrinos' cell phone rang.
In a panicked voice, his good friend and neighbor told him to look outside.
"He said, 'I can't tell if it was your house or your neighbor's, but it just exploded,'" Macrinos recalled recently. "There was a huge mushroom cloud and debris was falling everywhere. It was like a war zone."
He rushed back to his Raccoon Drive home and found his next-door neighbor's home demolished. The side of Macrinos' home was gone; the house was four inches off its foundation, drawers and appliances were blown open and decorations knocked off the walls. Nearly 25 other homes were damaged on the street.
The home was just one of at least seven destroyed in Trumbull County neighborhoods since 2000 that exploded, all linked to natural gas.
The most recent case was in Girard last month.
In the most recent case, Donald Shelley Jr. of 426 North Ave., Girard, has been charged with stealing copper and metal pipe and sparking a gas leak that led to the explosion that destroyed one house and damaged more than 50 others.
In that case, neighbors last week filed suit against Shelley, claiming he should pay for the damage caused to their homes.
An analysis of seven similar home explosions in Warren, Howland and Niles showed all had some link to natural gas.
According to Dominion East Ohio Gas spokesman Neil Durbin, the utility has been involved with investigations of 25 natural gas-related explosions in northeast Ohio since 2003. The causes have varied from case to case, he said, and include interior renovation or construction work, excavation that digs into exterior gas lines, arson, vandalism or copper/iron piping thefts.
And although copper pipe thefts have increased in recent years Durbin said, Dominion hasn't seen a corresponding increase in explosions.
Howland fire Chief George Brown said that while investigators know the explosion at 1385 Raccoon Drive N.E. was caused by natural gas, they do not know specifically where or how the gas leaked.
He said sometimes the slightest spark can cause an explosion, such as the ignition when a furnace or an older refrigerator starts.
In Macrinos' case, his 1385 Raccoon Drive neighbor, Randy Mansfield, had called the gas company that morning because he smelled gas. A worker arrived about 9 a.m. and tightened a connection in the stove and Mansfield left, said reports. About 5:30 p.m., Mansfield returned home, smelled gas and went across the street to call the gas company again. The house exploded just a few seconds later.
About four years before that blast - on Nov. 8, 2000 - a natural gas related explosion occurred at a 7861/7863 Raglan Drive duplex. One man suffered burns over nearly 100 percent of his body. A woman who lived in the second unit cut her leg jumping out the window.
Brown said the explosion was caused by a faulty hot water tank. The effects of that blast could be felt for two miles.
Elaine Casterline and her husband, Gary, live at 7895 Raglan Drive and were in their home at the time.
''It was November and already kind of dark and there was just a huge boom," said Elaine Casterline. "I ran outside on the front porch and could see their front porch burning. All kinds of people were pouring in, the firemen came. It was just spooky, just scary. I didn't know what to think."
While her home wasn't damaged, the duplex was and she said it's since been rebuilt. When she heard the boom from Raccoon Drive four years later, there wasn't a question in her mind about what it was.
''I said, Gary, someone's house exploded because I knew what it felt like,'' she said.
In July 2006, an early morning natural gas explosion destroyed another home at 471 Oriole Place. While no one was at home at the time, Shirley Day, her mother Annabelle Brogdon and son Sylvestor, were asleep just two houses away.
"We just heard an explosion and parts of the roof came off the house next door," said Day. "It knocked me to the floor from the couch and the firemen came and got the wood off our porch so we could get out."
Siding was missing from Brogdon's home, the roof was burned and part of the roof from the next house over was on her front porch. Luckily, said Day, insurance covered the repairs within two weeks.
But the lot at 471 Oriole Place is still empty, said Day.
"It was scary, real scary," she said. "You think about it all the time, especially the stories that you hear that will bring it back. You hear about an explosion or someone taking copper pipe and you think about it."
Macrinos agrees.
"It was a traumatic experience," he said. "Life changing."
Thanks to insurance, Macrinos' family rebuilt in the same spot. But, he said they've spent more than $100,000 on other losses. He and his neighbors are involved in a consolidated lawsuit against Dominion for damages.
Durbin said none of the explosions in Dominion's service area have been due to problems with the company's lines or facilities.
"In all the cases mentioned, the affected natural gas lines and appliances actually belonged to the property owner, who would be responsible for any repair costs," said Durbin.
The home at 1385 Raccoon Drive was rebuilt, though Mansfield has moved out of state. After spending Thanksgiving 2004 with relatives, and while living in an apartment, the Macrinoses moved into their new home in July 2005.
"We had the whole house torn down, about nine or 10 years of memories," Macrinos said. "We were just so glad we weren't home. If my daughter would have been in her bedroom, she would have been killed."
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NEWS777
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10-05-08 10:46 PM
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I lived in the Howland neighborhood when that house exploded. It was crazy. Sounded like an earthquake. All of the houses in that area were not very old and build pretty well. Thank god no one was hurt.
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chefsteve
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10-05-08 12:39 PM
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Great investigative reporting, you have answered a question no one has been able to tell me for eight years now, about the faulty hot water heater, thank you.That was my residence on Raglan dr.
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OutsideTheBox
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10-05-08 11:59 AM
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The Dominion spokesman said, "It's not our fault." in so many words, of course... IN a related news article, they state, "By the way, we're raising rates through the roof, because we can, and we'll blame it on the volatile market." Gotta love corporate greed and blamestorming.
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pahootaman
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10-05-08 10:20 AM
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looks like all these houses that were built 30 years ago were built a little shoddy.
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ihatethistown
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10-05-08 5:06 AM
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sportguy: "The home was just one of at least seven destroyed in Trumbull County neighborhoods since 2000 that exploded, all linked to natural gas." The writer was just listing the explosions since 2000~it would probably be to long of a story if he listed every house that has ever exploded in this area and the circumstances surrounding it!
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sportguy
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10-05-08 2:15 AM
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This writer either forgot or isnt old enough to remember the mcdonald gas explosions on christmas day 25 years ago.
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