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Car Fire, Explosions Destroy Home in Sunbury

SUNBURY — A fire followed by several small explosions destroyed a family’s home and forced the evacuation of a neighborhood in Sunbury. Neighbors sa...

SUNBURY -- A fire followed by several small explosions destroyed a family's home and forced the evacuation of a neighborhood in Sunbury.

Neighbors say luck and quick action by firefighters kept them from getting hurt.

A chain-reaction explosion destroyed the home on Reagan Street in Sunbury. The fire chief says the homeowner pulled into the garage after a trip to the grocery store and then noticed her car's engine was on fire.

She was able to run upstairs and get her disabled husband out of the home before the fire worsened.

Flames then reached the front porch where the family stored about 20 oxygen tanks.

"I mean, it was just one after another. They were just boom, boom. I went out to look at the fence back here, and it was boom, boom. They all started going off," said David McMichael of Sunbury.

"They just kept going off, and they were flying across the street. He was on oxygen, so they were laying on the front porch, and they just kept going off. And they told us all to run and get as far away as we could so we did," said Bonnie Springer of Sunbury.

Springer and McMichael were among the neighbors who had to run from the exploding oxygen tanks. The fire chief said about six tanks exploded. Some even flew from the porch.

Car Fire, Explosions Destroy Home in Sunbury

No one was hurt, but firefighters say the home is a total loss. Firefighters kept the fire from spreading to any other homes.

"I'm so sorry that the neighbors lost their house. They're wonderful people. I'm just glad they're out, and they're safe," McMichael said.

"It took no time for it to go onto our fence, and the firemen, I appreciate these firemen. They did a great job because if it wasn't for them, I think for sure our house would've went up. I greatly appreciate these guys," Springer said.

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