Glendale house explosion, man burned
GLENDALE, Wis. - Firefighters responded to a house explosion Sunday afternoon, July 10 in Glendale. The occupant suffered significant burns, and one firefighter sustained a minor injury.
Video from FOX6 viewer Mike Poelzer shows heavy flames coming from the home on Sievers Place in the area near Port Washington and Silver Spring around 3 p.m. That's when North Shore Fire officials received multiple 911 calls from people reporting an explosion.
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Upon the arrival of first responders, the occupant, a man in his 50s, was outside. He was immediately treated and transported to the hospital.
One firefighter sustained a minor injury but was treated on scene and able to return to duty.
North Shore Fire Battalion Chief Dan Tyk said firefighters would be working on the fire for a while, mainly on hot spots.
Neighbors said they felt the explosion and tried to do what they could to help the man who was seriously burned.
"Just, huge explosion," said Mike Poelzer. "Ground shook, and we both looked at each other just, ‘What was that?’"
Poelzer lives around the corner. When he went to check out what happened, he came across the man who had been burned.
Glendale house explosion (Courtesy: Mike Poelzer)
"I saw him on the ground yelling and screaming, and so I just ran over to help right away, whatever I could do," said Poelzer.
Poelzer and other neighbors jumped in before first responders got there.
"I think there was some preliminary information, potentially, from the occupant of the house that they may have lit a cigarette, at which point there was an explosion," said Tyk.
With a lot of hot spots and uncertainty about the structure's stability, it was tough for fire crews to get in.
"We’re going to begin to deconstruct the house, take down the chimney and some of the walls that are not being held up by very much right now just to make it a little safer for us to get inside," said Tyk.
Tyk said there was a gas concern, so We Energies responded to the scene. The fire also melted and charred a neighbor's home.
Glendale house explosion (Courtesy: Mike Poelzer)
"The house was just engulfed in flames way up, 10 feet above the roof," said Poelzer.
Neighbors were shaken up physically and mentally, hopeful their neighbor will recover quickly.
"It's scary, you know, shocking," said Poelzer.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation.