Fire Marshall to investigate explosion that injured man
Marion City Fire Department has called in the State Fire Marshall to conduct an investigation into the house explosion that occurred Wednesday night.
Ryan Redmon, public information officer with the Marion City Fire Department, said it is unclear what caused the explosion because the house was destroyed within minutes. With Marion City Fire Department's station just a half a mile away from the 800 block of Congress Street, Redmon said firefighters heard the noise when it happened.
This prompted a quick response from first responders as Redmon said firefighters were on scene within two minutes. Redmon added residents in nearby neighborhoods who came to the scene to see what had happened also noted hearing the sound of the explosion.
Redmon said this situation has been deemed an explosion due to the speed of which the house collapsed. Redmon said the house was already completely caved in when first responders arrived despite just a two minute response time. However, because of the quick response time, Redmon said firefighters were able to put out the flames within roughly 30 minutes to stop them from spreading to nearby houses.
Redmon said he didn't have any updates on the condition of the injured man from the fire. However, he said these types of burn injuries typically require extensive care for not only treating the wounds, but also fighting off potential infections. The man was taken to Marion General Hospital and then transferred to Columbus for additional treatments on his injuries, said Redmon.
As of Thursday morning, firefighters and investigators are still on scene on Congress Street. Redmon said this is still an active investigation and he expects crews to be there for a day or two so they can dig through the debris and potentially find a cause of the explosion. To assist with the investigation, Redmon said the State Fire Marshall will be bringing in heavy machinery to pick up now destroyed pieces of the home.
The Marion Star will update this story with more information as it becomes available.
Reach Mitch Hooper at (740)-2449935 or bhooper@gannett.com.