Explosion Rocks California Home, Two Injured

A Vacaville neighborhood was rocked Thursday afternoon after a home on Juniper Street suddenly exploded, blowing out the windows and injuring its two occupants.

Police officers and firefighters responded to the single-story home in the 200 block of Juniper Street around 4:26 p.m. and began evacuating neighboring residences after receiving reports of an explosion.

Upon arrival, officers found two of the home's occupants, believed to be in their 20s, one suffering what Vacaville police Sgt. Charlie Spruill called "severe burns" on both of his arms. Both subjects refused being taken to the hospital by ambulance and, after the severely burned resident had his arms bandaged by medics on scene, sought medical treatment on their own.

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strong chemical odor was coming from inside the home and police issued a "shelter-in-place" order to those in the neighborhood. A portion of Stinson Avenue, which leads to Juniper Street was also closed to keep traffic from the area.

Spruill said the residents told police there were three "vicious pit bulls" inside the home at the time of the explosion, prompting firefighters to carry Tasers when they searched the home. However, the house was cleared without incident.

The exact cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

"They said they were cooking," Spruill said. "The issue is what they were cooking. We have (narcotics officers) here who believe they were possibly manufacturing narcotics."

Spruill said there

was extensive damage throughout the home, ranging from shattered glass and dry wall

The force of the explosion was so powerful that it cracked the yellow stucco of the home's outer wall to the left of the doorway. A sliding door at the back of the home was also blown off its track and across the back yard.

Neither individual was arrested, but Spruill said that, as of 9 p.m., police "consider them potential suspects."

Neighbor Bruce Johnson said he had just arrived home from work when the explosion took place.

"I heard a big bang. I knew it wasn't a gunshot," he said. "I went over to see if I needed to drag anyone out of there."

According to Johnson, smoke was billowing out of the door and kitchen window. When he stepped inside he was greeted by the site of the two individuals standing in the kitchen trying to extinguish a fire in a trash can.

"I told them 'You better call 911' and they said 'No, we've got it,' " he said, adding they then ran and got a garden hose to put out the flames.

The shelter-in-place was removed at 5:55 p.m. and neighbors who had been evacuated were allowed to return to their homes after air monitors showed there was no threat.

Copyright 2012 - The Reporter, Vacaville, Calif.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service