Motley News & Politics

Indianapolis IN: Before and After Photos of South Side Home Explosion Nov. 10, 2012

November 11, 2012

On Saturday night, a home explosion in the south side of Indianapolis IN leveled that house as well as the neighbor’s home immediately to their south. The Indianapolis Fire Department says the explosion happened in the 8400 block of Fieldfare Way, which is in a subdivision just off of Sherman Drive south of Stop 11 Road.

At a Sunday afternoon press conference, officials say damages are estimated at $3.6 million. Five homes are gone or need to be demolished. A total of 80 homes were affected. The cause of the explosion is still yet undetermined although natural gas is the suspected culprit.

Two died in this explosion. Dion and Jennifer Longworth, A Greenwood teacher and her husband, were in their home when it went up in flames. There was no chance of getting out alive. The house that initially blew was not the Longworth’s home but the one next door. The explosion was so massive that it unfortunately took the Longworth’s along with it. The home that did explode was sitting empty that night.

I have collected some of the larger, more visibly clear photos both during and after the explosion and fire. Then through the magic of Google Maps, I have taken screenshots of both the street view and aerial view for comparison. The street view was completed in 2007, so naturally the trees are quite a bit smaller as the neighborhood was not very old at that time. The Google aerial images are more recent. It listed 2012 although I am unsure if that only applied to the Google Maps copyright date, or the date the satellite took the images.

I’m not sure why, but I have been completely absorbed with this explosion. Part of the reason, I’m sure, is because I’m originally from Indiana and lived in Indianapolis for several years – and I do miss this city. But there’s more to it than just that. The massive damage seems to me to be rather unusual for a home gas explosion in regards to the overall damage. The fire which erupted was a very hot fire which is clearly visible in the photos below. I searched around on the internet for photos of other homes which were leveled after a natural gas explosion, and out of the ones that I found, none of them took down any of their neighbor’s homes. Some damage to the siding of the homes next door, but that was about it. I am probably reading way too much into this tragedy….

What would have made this explosion, if indeed it was gas, so intensely hot and destructive?

((NOTE, Post-publishing: I am reading too much into this. I just went to Wikipedia’s page about gas explosions and there is a list of explosions much worse than this. CSI, I am not.))

((UPDATE Monday, 11/12/2012: It appears that the authorities are currently unable to determine what caused this explosion. There were no reports of gas leaks and it looks as though natural gas is being ruled out. So I wasn’t being overly suspicious. They’re all working on finding the cause. Meth lab and bomb have also been ruled out.))

To best see these images, please click on the first one (or any of them) and they will show in full size in the shadowbox. You may toggle your way through.

AFTER: Aerial image from Google Maps after homes were leveled from Explosion in Indianapolis.

BEFORE: Aerial image from Google Maps before homes were leveled from Explosion in Indianapolis.

AFTER: Aerial view of south side Indy homes after explosion. (AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Matt Kryger)

AFTER. Aerial view of south side Indy homes after destroyed by explosion. (AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Matt Kryger)

BEFORE. Aerial view of south side Indy homes before destroyed by explosion. (AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Matt Kryger)

AFTER: Aerial shot of Indy homes after explosion. News chopper. AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Matt Kryger)

BEFORE: Aerial shot of Indy homes before explosion. Google Maps taken 2007.

AFTER. First home south of demolished home.

DURING: First home on the south side of the two that were destroyed.

BEFORE. First home south of demolished homes.

The morning after the homes burned down from fire from explosion.

BEFORE. From Google Maps. 2007

Neighbor’s home across the street from Indy house explosion.

Back of homes behind explosions.

Very HOT fire. Taken by a neighbor before being evacuated.

Debris.

All the fireman’s reflective gear.

Very intense hot fire. Matt Kryger / The Star

Here are some photos of other homes that were demolished due to natural gas explosions. Pay special attention to the homes right next door. This isn’t saying that a gas explosion cannot be as horrible or intense as the one Saturday in Indianapolis. For the fire to be that large and hot, then I would think the gas had to build up for quite some time. Hours perhaps. I would have hoped someone walking by would be able to smell that amount of gas. It does not take much in the air to know that odor.

The next three photos were from a home that exploded in Castle Rock Colorado. Four people, including the children, were home and all made it out alive.

Castle Rock home destroyed Natural gas explosion 1

Castle Rock CO home destroyed Natural gas explosion aerial view. Oct 2012

Castle Rock CO home destroyed Natural gas explosion. Oct. 2012

Here is another home leveled by a natural gas explosion in Westville NJ. Again, house right next door is still standing.

Also, check out this video of another gas explosion in Northeast Philadelphia. You cannot make out any of the surrounding damage, but the fireball was intense!

Sources and references:

NBC News: Two killed, homes destroyed in huge Indianapolis explosions
WTHR Indpls Channel 13 News: Two killed, homes flattened in south Indianapolis explosion
Chicago Tribune: Photo gallery
FOX News: At least 2 dead, other minor injuries reported after explosion at Indianapolis home sets others ablaze in neighborhood
LA Times: Indianapolis house explosion kills two, destroys neighborhood
WISH TV 8 Indianapolis: Greenwood teacher killed in explosion
Yahoo! News: Indy residents describe blast, fire that killed 2
FOX 31 Denver: Photos: Castle Rock woman, 4 adopted kids escape explosion that leveled home
ABC 6 New Jersey: House Destroyed By Explosion In NJ

TAGS:

aerial photos, before and after, fire, Google Maps, home explosion, in, Indiana, Indianapolis, natural gas explosion, photos, Richmond Hills, southside

9 responses to “Indianapolis IN: Before and After Photos of South Side Home Explosion Nov. 10, 2012”

maryisidra

November 12, 2012 at 4:45 am

I also have questions about this. Thank you for the photos and info.

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the9thperterber

November 12, 2012 at 5:55 am

Wow! Great article! I am suspicious of this incident (Tragedy). I sense or intuit a “false flag” terrorist attack here. I sensed the same thing on 9/11/01. I have been following this conspiracy thing for decades; what can I say? I am a child of the sixties and “Big Brother” was watching us then. I remember hearing something years ago, but after 911; that if they chose to further the terrorist plot, that they would most likely pick a location, like a small town in rural America, to emphasize our vulnerability, but their was this one analyst who said; that it was most likely they would chose a Suburban neighborhood in Indianapolis Indiana! I will have to find that video!
Yes, indeed, when you compare the evidence of other explosions the only thing that comes close to the kind of pulverized debris is; high tech explosives and the Twin Towers.
There is something wrong here. Would if they claim, in a couple of weeks, that this was a terrorist attack? What will we think then? The victims (fatalities) do not appear to be targets. God Bless them, but they were the most ordinary of U.S. citizens, clean, red-blooded Americans. And this adds to “their” plot. I am curious, to find out who the owners, of the other home are. I am researching this one and you have posted the best info.so far~ better than any News agency I have seen. I think you are on to something here, with your preoccupation. At any rate,this is mysterious and this mystery needs to be solved, even if it is natural gas. This is a horrible tragedy!

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Chris Sheridan

November 12, 2012 at 1:53 pm

Horrifying! We heat our home with natural gas, but I still don’t lay awake at night worrying about something like this happening, since it’s relatively rare. Several years back, there was a house in a town near ours that got almost completely destroyed by a natural gas explosion, but that was an entirely different situation…

A guy who made his living as a Cardiologist rented a small back hoe to do some excavation in his backyard, digging a hole as the first step in making his own outdoor fish pond and waterfall. But the professional MD Specialist/Amateur excavator struck a natural gas line while digging, and as a result, the basement and first floor of his home quickly filled up with natural gas. The doctor knew he had a serious problem when he could smell the gas flowing out from an open window in his kitchen, so he quickly got down off the back hoe and ran across the street to call 911 for help on his cell phone.

But before he could complete his 911 call, his house blew up, and he told the 911 operator not to bother sending anyone, since his house just exploded and it was too late. Of course the police and fire depts rushed to the scene anyway, along with broadcasting vans from two local TV news stations. The only good news was that no one was inside the house when it blew up, and no one was injured by the explosion.

An absolutely true story, and it reminds me of that TV commercial with the voice over asking “Would you want your doctor doing your job?” Uhm… maybe not. Lol 🙂

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1. Michelle
  
  November 12, 2012 at 3:07 pm
  
  I hope he’s not a surgeon. Apparently, this explosion is boggling everyone. They’re doubting gas and just not sure what it was.
  
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  1. Chris Sheridan
    
    November 12, 2012 at 3:20 pm
    
    Most Cardiologists are surgeons, so he probably is a surgeon, and he’s probably very skilled in surgery. But they didn’t teach him anything in medical school about the proper procedures for excavation – like checking a data base here called “Dig Safe” that shows where almost all the underground natural gas and electrical lines are.
    
    I’m no expert on natural gas explosions, but with the way that house looks totally leveled by the blast, I’m not surprised that people are suspicious. It will be interesting to see if the people who are experts come up with evidence of another reason for the blast after their investigation.
    
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    1. Michelle
      
      November 12, 2012 at 4:58 pm
      
      Reminds me of a few people I met when I used to attend Mensa meetings back in Indy… so damn SMART! I mean off the chart, right? But I’ll be damned I met a few that could NOT cook. I mean so bad they’d burn water!
      
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rose

November 13, 2012 at 4:05 pm

The first thing we thought was some terrorist was making a bomb and it exploded. But then, we had a natural gas line explode in our area years ago and luckily it was out in the country or houses would have been destroyed for miles also. There was one like that in the 30s or 40s around here too. People went to their knees because they thought the end of the world was here. In their defense, there was no media in most homes, just what they saw in their world.

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John

October 1, 2013 at 4:33 pm

Noticed you never updated this blog with the facts that 3 people were arrested for fraud, arson, and murder in this case, but that’s okay, as long as you can continue to distort the facts to make whomever you want look like the bad guy. Great CSI work! You must be a local DA in small-town USA. You drum up facts and convict whomever is most convenient and fitting in your theory, regardless of the truth.

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1. Michelle
  
  October 1, 2013 at 4:59 pm
  
  What kind of drugs are you on? This post was showing before and after pix of the explosion. I didn’t point any finger at anyone. Beside, this is MY blog. Note the “MY” as well as “BLOG.” Not CNN. Not FOX (which I’ll bet is your fav). Etc. What you think is really of no importance to me. You don’t like my site, don’t come here, and start your own site.
  
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