Dead identified in Georgia house blast; cause still unknown

The weekend explosion that destroyed a north Georgia house and killed two people caused so much damage that determining its cause will take time, Georgia’s fire commissioner said Monday.

Commissioner John King’s office identified the dead Monday as Ralph Norris Wood Jr., 78, and Peggy Wood, 77. Autopsies were planned on both at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab in Decatur.

The Sunday morning blast happened in the Union County town of Blairsville. In addition to destroying the Woods’ home, it damaged several houses in the area, King’s news release said.