REDUCED TO RUBBLE

N.J. home leveled by mystery blast

A New Jersey home was reduced to a pile of matchsticks after it was obliterated in a massive explosion, officials said Wednesday.

Investigators are trying to determine what triggered the Tuesday night blast in Hardyston, N.J., which sent debris flying across the street to the nearby Wallkill Valley Regional High School.

The school was closed Wednesday as repairs were made.

Hardyston is in Sussex County, some 45 miles from Midtown Manhattan.

The six-year-old home on Grumm Road exploded about 11 p.m., officials from the Hardyston Township Volunteer Fire Department said.

The explosion was so loud that it could be heard miles away in neighboring towns, Mayor Carl Miller told NJ.com.

Miller, who heard the blast 8 miles away, first thought that testing was being done at a nearby Picatinny Arsenal, but testing wouldn’t be done so late at night, he said.

“People are in shock," the mayor said. “This is a crazy thing to happen — not only for this town but for any town. I’ve been here since 1985 and I don’t remember anything even remotely like this happening."

Members of the Volunteer Fire Department said no one was in the home when it exploded and no injuries were reported.

Besides the school, the house next door to the doomed building suffered some “window damage,” the fire department said on Facebook.

Investigators were at the scene Wednesday to try and determine what sparked the explosion. Grumm Road will remain closed as the investigation continued, officials said.