Middletown apartment explosion hospitalizes woman

An explosion Monday at an apartment complex in Middletown, Ohio, blew a hole in one building and sent a woman to the hospital.

The injured woman’s father said her injuries are serious enough to need surgery at Atrium Medical Center. He said his daughter told him she smelled gas two weeks ago.

Middletown assistant fire chief Tom Snively said it was “very fortunate” no one else was injured or killed, given the damage that was done. He said officials don’t know what caused the explosion.

Middletown apartment explosion:
Gas smelled by numerous residents

Christian Goolsby, a resident of the apartment complex, said he could smell gas by the building. Neighbors are uneasy and worried about using their ovens.

“I feel a little scared because I don’t know if the other apartments have problems, too,” said Solivette Sambolin, another resident.

Stephen Jackson, another resident, said: “We didn’t know what it was. They said natural gases, (but) we still don’t know.”

Middletown apartment explosion:
What happened Monday

A little before 11:30 a.m. Monday, an explosion rocked the apartment complex at 428 Cribbs Avenue, damaging up to six apartments.

“It just, like, ‘BOOM’ — it shook the whole house, and I’m like, ‘What the heck is going on?’” Jackson said.

After the blast, Jackson and Goolsby said they ran outside. They said they couldn’t believe what they saw: The two-story apartment building had collapsed, and there was a large hole in it. A front door and other rubble had been flung behind the complex.

“This lady comes out and she’s talking about her back,” Goolsby said. “She had blood coming out of her.”

Edwin Torres also heard the explosion. He said he and his wife ran outside to see what was happening and brought an injured woman into their apartment.

“For me, he’s a hero because I think nobody would do that,” Solivette Sambolin said. “Not everybody would do that, because he didn’t know that girl.”

Middletown apartment explosion: A Middletown, Ohio, woman was hospitalized Monday after the apartment complex in which she lived was rocked by an explosion.

Middletown apartment explosion:
Transcript of 911 call

Caller: There’s an explosion.

911: An explosion?

Caller: Yes, an explosion. … It looks like the whole building collapsed.

911: There’s a building that collapsed?

Caller: It’s an apartment complex.

Middletown apartment explosion:
Building last inspected in 2006

The apartment complex is owned by Butler Metropolitan Housing Authority. A spokesperson for the housing authority said it is looking to relocate the displaced residents

According to paperwork from the city, the building inspections department has not looked inside 428 Cribbs Avenue since 2006, when some repair work was done.

Middletown apartment explosion:
Statement from gas company

Duke Energy told a reporter for Middletown’s Local 12 TV news that it responded immediately to the explosion. The company released the following statement:

“Our thoughts are with the families impacted by today’s unfortunate events.

“We are beginning our investigation and working closely with emergency response agencies and local authorities to determine the cause of this incident. At this time, we have no information whether or not any Duke Energy infrastructure was involved.

“We are in the early stages of our investigation and we’ll get to the answers of the cause. As you can appreciate, we are trying to understand what happened.

“Duke Energy gas technicians tested and checked the natural gas lines in the area, and no natural gas leaks on our lines were detected.”