Outside the scene on Maple Avenue Tuesday afternoon.
SEYMOUR — The explosion in a basement apartment Tuesday on Maple Avenue blew a wall off the building and left two people in critical condition, officials said Wednesday.
The victims are a 50-year-old female with burns on over 80 percent of her body, and a 77-year-old male with burns on between 15 and 20 percent of his body.
Their names have not been released, but Bridgeport Hospital officials said both people are listed in critical condition.
“There is also trauma, physical trauma, obviously, associated with an explosion. This was a violent event,” Seymour Fire Marshal Timm Willis said.
The cause and origin of the explosion and fire are still under investigation. There are no natural gas lines underground in the area. Investigators are focusing on an underground propane tank outside the residence that provided gas for heating and cooking.
“This was propane gas. I can’t go into any more details as to what may have caused it, but I can tell you there was an underground storage tank, and there was propane in that tank, and at some point propane from that tank somehow made its way into one of the apartments,” Willis said.
Fire, police and EMS units were sent to the multi-family building at 1:52 p.m. Tuesday. The scene was chaotic and confusing.
At first it looked like a vehicle had hit a house, with the vehicle and part of the apartment in flames.
In reality the explosion had blown an apartment’s wall off the building, hitting a vehicle parked outside.
“People online kept referencing what looked like a garage. What they were seeing was actually the entire wall of a building blown off,” Willis said.
The road outside the house remained closed to traffic until 12:30 a.m. Wednesday. Investigators were on scene for at least five hours Wednesday.
State police investigators are assisting. Willis said he expects the on-scene investigation to wrap up by the end of the day Wednesday. However, there is extensive work to be done.
“There will be substantial follow up,” he said.
At a press conference at the scene Tuesday, Seymour Police Chief John Bucherati said there were no signs of criminality, though the matter was still under investigation. That remained the case 24 hours later.
“The Seymour Police Department is working with the town and state fire marshals’ offices with whatever they may need in terms of investigative assistance,” Bucherati told The Valley Indy Wednesday.
Seymour First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis was on the scene of the explosion for several hours and offered the town’s prayers and assistance to the victims, their families and the other residents who were living in the three-story house. Drugonis said there were five families living in the dwelling, and all have since been displaced since Tuesday’s explosion.
“The Connecticut Red Cross as well as family members have stepped in to help the displaced residents,” Drugonis said. “Nobody can live in that house right now because the electricity was cut off. We hope they all will be able to get back into their homes as soon as possible.”
Drugonis said the town is ready to help.
“As the CEO of the town, I care about all our residents,” Drugonis said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the residents (hurt in the explosion) and their families and all the residents that were displaced. We are here if they need us, and we are happy to help in any way we can. I have the utmost confidence in our fire department and our police chief as they continue their investigation. I hope the people can go back into their homes as soon as possible.”
People at the scene Tuesday included First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis (on phone, left of center) and Seymour Fire Marshal Timm Willis (on the far right, walking toward scene).
