By Rick Palsgrove
Southeast Editor
Madison Township firefighters responded to a house explosion and fire on Nov. 6.
According to Madison Township Fire Chief Robert Bates, a single family dwelling located at 3335 Everson Road East exploded around 4 a.m.
Bates said two residents, Stewart Bell, 59, and Shelly Williams, 54, were injured and transported to the OSU Wexner Medical Center. According to Bates, Williams died at the hospital. Bell was hospitalized.
Bates said the cause of the explosion is currently under investigation by Madison Township, the State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Public Utilities Commission.
“The fire was controlled in about 25 minutes, but complete extinguishment took about one and a half hours as we had to have the gas company shutoff the gas supply,” said Bates.
Neighboring properties sustained some damage in the blast.
“One house had some blast and thermal damage and the other had blast damage but not any thermal damage,” said Bates.
When asked if firefighters faced any unusual problems fighting this fire, Bates said, “Yes, when the gas meter was blown off the house the free flowing from the gas line in from the street was ignited and could not be extinguished until the gas from the street was shut off.”
