Explosion, fire rock Ferndale neighborhood and force residents to seek temporary home
An explosion at a home in Ferndale on Sunday blew the garage doors off the hinges, but no injuries were reported.
A crew from Fire District No. 7 arrived on scene minutes after receiving a call about the incident at 11:41 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 7. When crews arrived they found the garage door in the driveway and the garage on fire. With the garage door gone, crews had easy access to the fire and had it extinguished by 11:52 a.m., Assistant Fire Chief Ben Boyko said.
Boyko said it’s difficult at this time to identify if the explosion caused the fire or if the fire caused the explosion. However, he said it is more likely the fire started first, although this is not confirmed. The cause of the explosion and the fire are currently being investigated.
The fire did not spread to the home, and all damage was in the garage. The incident occurred along the 6100 block of Apollo Drive in Ferndale.
The residents were not home at the time of the incident, although a dog and cat were removed from the home and reunited with the residents.
Though there was limited if any damage to the home itself, it is not livable at this time, and the residents have been in touch with the Red Cross to find temporary housing.
The explosion not only threw the garage door off the hinges, but blew open the back door to the garage and displaced three exterior walls from the foundation.
This story was originally published January 8, 2024 at 12:00 PM.
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