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Elderly Couple Killed in House Explosion

Elderly Couple Killed in House Explosion - Monday, July 13, 2009 at 9:27PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Monday, Jul 13, 2009 @ 09:27pm EST
DICKSON CITY, LACKAWANNA COUNTY - An elderly couple is dead after a house explosion early Monday morning in Lackawanna County. It happened at 730 Carmalt Street in Dickson City just after 2:00 AM. The blast was so powerful, it could be heard and felt by people in neighboring towns.

The victims have been identified as Frank and Caroline Topolski. State Police are looking into whether propane may have been the cause of a series of explosions that leveled the home.

Most neighbors say they were woken up by the blast.

"You just heard BOOM and then it woke me right up," neighbor Patty Richards said.

"By the time we ran out to the front porch, the house was completely engulfed in flames. There was nothing you could do," neighbor Bill Wiltshire said.

Neighbor Joe Casillo says the house literally came off its foundation.

"The house, like lifted up and the roof just came down and I grabbed the garden hose. I coulod hear people screaming. Nobody could get anywhere near the house," Casillo said.

The victim's son, Frank Topolski Junior, 50, was also home at the time. He made it out with only minor burns. He was treated and released from a Scranton hospital.

"After the first explosion, he came out and then right after he got out the door the second explosion went off," neighbor Lee Ann Krawczyk said.

"He tried to get back in the house. Some of the neighbors had to hold him back," Casillo said.

22-year-old Heather Baldoni also tried to help the victims. The explosions knocked her off her feet.

"It was just like a blast and I went down. Gently. Not too hard," Baldoni said.

Investigators say there was no natural gas connected to the home. That's why the attention on the cause of the explosion has shifted to propane.

"There was no natural gas to the house. There was propane. That's one of the things we're looking," Trooper Bill Satkowski said.
 


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