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Explosion in Va. destroys home

An explosion in Fredericksburg, Virginia shook a neighborhood and destroyed a house under construction.
Home explosion

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- An explosion in Fredericksburg, Virginia shook a neighborhood and destroyed a house under construction.

The fire Marshal suspects a gas leak caused the explosion.

People who live close to the house describe the loud explosion that rattled their home and their nerves.

Stephanie Kim was at home around 9 Saturday night when she felt her house shake.

"All of a sudden I heard this huge bang. I freaked out for a second and thought of my kids thinking there's no way they would do something that would make that loud of a noise. I looked out window and saw the roof on the ground and there was fire around the back of it," Kim said.

Tom Hammond and his family felt the boom a quarter of a mile away.

"My wife and I were in our bedroom watching TV. We got a shake that felt like the earthquake we had a few years ago," said Hammond.

The Stafford County Fire Marshall was back out at the collapsed home, Sunday. The house that was unoccupied is located near route 17 in a brand new development at Stafford Lakes Village subdivision in Fredericksburg.

There was suppose to be a final walk through of the home Monday and the family planned on moving in next week. No one was inside at the time and no one was injured.

But Juan Arispe 's home did receive damage to the side of his house. He suspects it was the kitchen sink that landed in his yard.

"If you've ever felt a sonic boom it was 10 times that. It rattled the garage, the house and us where we were sitting down. I's use to it because I'm military but my family was pretty scared. They thought a bomb had gone off, " Arispe said.

"I thought it was my house, I freaked out a lot. It was really scary I didn't know what was going to happen. I wasn't sure if it was going to cause a domino effect and cause everyone else's house to fall. I'm just glad that everybody is okay and no one got hurt," Summer Arispe said.

The fire marshal says there was some type of gas leak possibly connected to the furnace but they are also looking at any outside source such as a small propane tank often used on construction sites in the winter, that ignited the gas. But investigators won't be able to make a determination until they uncover all that debris.

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