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Unsafe conditions delays finding source of Noblesville home explosion

NOBLESVILLE, Ind (WISH) – Unsafe conditions could delay finding out what sparked a Noblesville home to explode.

On Sunday, neighbors hundreds of feet away could hear a blast that came from Whisper Ridge Drive. “We were getting ready to leave, and [my husband] said, he heard a loud bang. He thought it was the kids downstairs playing with the ball, and he felt the whole house shake,” Noblesville resident, Leah Simon said.

“Heard a big loud boom, and I thought it was maybe one of my kids jumping upstairs, and then about a half an hour later I saw all the cops and the neighbors running out in the neighborhood trying to figure out what that noise was,” Noblesville resident Mark Hurley said.

Noblesville firefighters said the cause of the sound was natural gas explosion to an unoccupied home. “It looks like it imploded from the inside,” Simon said. “It just kind of crumbled on top of each other.”

As for what triggered the blast, firefighters don’t know because they can’t get inside. “The investigators will eventually get inside once the structure becomes safe,” Noblesville Fire Department spokesperson, Todd Estes said.

While they don’t know what sparked it, firefighters aren’t worried it’ll become a pattern. “As far as all the construction that’s going on out here, we don’t have a big concern that this is going to be an everyday or every week occurrence,” Estes said.

Although it caused $300,000 in damage, no one was hurt. Something Hurley is glad about, because he knows the sound he heard could’ve been a lot worse.

“I work for a garage door company, and I’m in those houses a lot of the times in that stage of construction,” Hurley said. “It was weird for me because I was thinking, man I hoping everybody was safe, because that could’ve been anybody in there working.”

Firefighters said part of the delay is waiting on owners to figure out what to do now. Property records show the home is owned by a real estate company. We reached out by phone, but didn’t hear back.