‘We don’t have anything now’: Haymarket home explodes after gas leak

HAYMARKET, Va. ( DC News Now ) — A house exploded in Haymarket and was “totally destroyed” Tuesday afternoon.

First responders headed to the 5900 block of Colby Hunt Ct. for a gas leak at a home around 4:15 p.m., officials said. Responders evacuated the home.

Officials said crews were at the home to address a water main break when a contracting crewmember hit a natural gas line. They then called 911 and the six people living inside the home were evacuated.

At around 5:35 p.m., an hour after the gas line was hit, responding units reported that the house had exploded.

Washington Gas responded to secure the leak.

The Fire Marshal’s Office said that no injuries were reported but some cars were damaged from the flying debris.

Jarrett Struniak, the homeowner said he lost his two cats and a dog and is going to “take it one day at a time.”

“We’re just waiting for the next steps, whether we’re going to be talking to law enforcement,” he said. “That is obviously the silver lining, nobody was hurt, not a firefighter, not a city worker, not a single person in the cul-de-sac. That’s really great in itself. We did lose really good pets and nothing is ever going to be able to replace them.”

Struniak said he was outside the home for 45 minutes before it exploded.

“When it happened I literally watched the whole front of our house collapse on top of four cars and into our yard,” he said.

Struniak said the four-bedroom home “completely caved in on itself.” Six people, including his wife, daughter, friend and their fiance and their child were living in the home.

“It probably shook the whole neighborhood for able a mile. I guess in that sense once I heard the flash and bang everything else went quiet after that,” Struniak said. “More or less just thinking about my animals. That’s pretty much it. And then just the fact we [that] don’t have anything now at this point.”

The deputy fire chief told DC News Now that the situation could have been “catastrophic” and other neighbors said it was “pretty traumatic to feel that explosion.”

The Red Cross responded to help the two families.

The Prince William County Fire and Rescue and Rescue System said neighbors in the nearby homes were allowed back in after their electrical service was restored.

The neighboring eight homes will have their natural gas service disrupted for up to two days.

Washington Gas said in a statement to DC News Now that it is aware of the explosion.

Our personnel responded to assist the fire department on the scene. The safety of our customers and community is our top priority. We are supporting the active response to the incident and do not have further details to share at this time.

Washington Gas

The situation is still being investigated.

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