Update: Injured woman identified in Victorville house explosion
Update 3:30 Thursday: Authorities identified the woman who was inside the house at the time of the explosion as 25-year-old Shryal King, despite initially describing her as a 40-year-old woman. The sheriff's department said they received a report of a second person inside the home but cadaver dogs did not find any human remains. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Victorville Fire Department.
Original story 4 p.m. Wednesday: An early-morning explosion rocked a Victorville neighborhood, injured one woman, leveled one home and damaged several others.
A gas company spokesman told the Daily Press that a crew responded to the incident site, turned off the gas, and discovered that “no leaks were found” there.
The explosion was reported at 2:54 a.m. on Wednesday and occurred in the 14900 block of Adalane Court, according to the Victorville Fire Department.
The incident occurred south of Village Drive near the Challenger School of Sports and Fitness.
“Tragically, the home occupant, a 40-year-old woman, was injured,” city spokeswoman Sue Jones said. “She was airlifted to a trauma center down the hill.”
Upon arrival, San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies saw debris in the neighborhood and found the residence fully engulfed in flames. With the cause of the explosion unknown, sheriff's Corporal Maddox evacuated residents in the area, officials said.
A woman, who was home alone when her house exploded, was able to pull herself outside. Maddox located the woman who was burned.
The woman was transported to a local hospital and later flown to a trauma center. The victim was in critical but stable condition, authorities said.
Two adjacent homes that were damaged in the blast were red-tagged for non-occupancy.
The American Red Cross arrived at the scene to offer assistance to the four people who had been displaced from the neighboring homes, Jones said.
Gas company response
Sean Corbett, the Southwest Gas manager of corporate communications, said the company responded to the incident on Wednesday morning near Adalane Court and Llanada Avenue.
“Our hearts are with the person injured in this incident, and we thank first responders for their quick response,” Corbett said. “Safety is our top priority, and our crews have turned gas off to the impacted residences and worked with first responders to ensure the area is safe and secure.”
"While the cause of the incident remains under investigation, SWG has thoroughly inspected the incident site and surrounding area for gas leaks, and “no leaks were found," Corbett added.
“All Southwest Gas infrastructure serving the community is operating without issue,” he said. “As part of Southwest Gas’ rigorous safety practices, a Southwest Gas contractor conducted periodic routine leak inspection work in the area last month. No leaks were found at that time either.”
Explosion felt like an ‘earthquake’
Via a Spanish translator, neighbor Rene Loera, who lives two houses down from the explosion, said he felt and heard the explosion.
Loera said he thought at first it was an earthquake or someone was trying to burglarize his home. He feared that there might be another explosion and saw flames engulfing the home.
The windows of Loera’s home were broken, his garage door was bowed out, and his house began leaning. His home, though, was not red-tagged by the inspector.
Fire crews were at the scene for about seven hours, with fire suppression taking about three hours.
An arson investigator from the VVFD has been on the scene. The cause of the explosion is under investigation, Jones said.
“Just like so many in our community, we are shocked by this tragic incident, and we extend our thoughts and prayers to our resident who was seriously injured and her loved ones as well as the neighbors who have been negatively impacted,” Jones said.
City staff has made contact with residents in the neighborhood to check their status and to ensure they are aware of support services available to them, Jones said.
“The city will assist affected residents by cleaning up debris and will provide structural inspections of homes,” she said.
Neighbors who need assistance are directed to contact the City of Victorville at 760-955-5104.
This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Explosion in Victorville injures one, levels home, damages others
