DTE says Detroit home explosion caused by open fuel line inside house; neighbors survey damage

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A neighbor's home security video captures the sound of a house exploding gives a glimpse of the flying debris that damaged eight other residences Monday afternoon.

Among those damaged residences includes Mary Graham's who lives across the street at Sussex and Florence.

"I felt what I would normally think was like thunder," she said. "I have a huge tree in the backyard and I said, 'Oh, my tree is falling.'"

Her tree along with all of her front windows, were blown away in the blast.

DTE Energy released a statement which reads in part: "All DTE equipment was working as expected – without gas leaks. The investigation also confirmed that the incident was a result of at least one open fuel line on resident-owned equipment inside the home."

"I was just shocked to see that the whole complete home was demolished," she said.

Less than 24 hours was the sound of progress in terms of cleanup, restoration and preservation.

The houses directly across from the blast sustained a good deal of damage.

"I opened the door and the whole house is gone," said neighbor Roy Monroe.

Next door to the explosion, more damage assessments need to be made for neighbors impacted.

"They believe that it can be salvaged, we believe that it can be salvaged," said Dave Bell, City of Detroit Building Safety. "We are going to work with them to get that house repaired abd get that family back in there as quickly as possible."

A number of nearby residents are concerned about potential long-term effects and have banned together to create a GoFundMe.

"It shook the ground, it shook the wate, it shook the sewers, it shook the power," said neighbor Lisa Thornton.

Some people concerned about what may come in the weeks and months ahead.

Progress has been made in sweeping up the street. but there is a long way to go at the house regarding cleanup and trying to figure out exact cause of the leak. neighbors coming to grips with happened yesterday

"I know how fortunate and blessed that I wasn’t involved in any way and I’m fine," said Graham.

"We just have to thank God that no one else was hurt," said Monroe.