WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. — The North Whidbey Island Fire Chief tells KIRO 7 News that illegal homemade fireworks are now being blamed for Tuesday’s massive explosion in Oak Harbor.
Investigators on the scene at the destroyed home confirmed to KIRO 7 that a man who was trying to manufacture these fireworks was killed in the blast. Two other people inside the house managed to get out safely, and all people involved in the incident have been accounted for.
North Whidbey Fire and Rescue Fire Chief Chris Swiger spoke to KIRO 7, stating that they believe the man was working with fireworks unlicensed, and they ignited, blowing up the house.
Darryl Tober sent KIRO 7 videos of the incident.
“The house was just completely engulfed, and there’s the video with my wife, she was filming,” said Tober.
He could not believe that a peaceful trip to watch whales ended with him bearing witness to this Whidbey Island explosion.
“It was very scary, we understand that one individual did perish in that, just a terrible tragedy,” he said.
Jim Secrettie was driving by the house and also spoke to KIRO 7. He lives in Mariner Cove, which is across the street from the property where the house blew up.
“We were in our house, and the explosion shook our house, it’s a 2-story house… it was a really strong explosion,” Secrettie admitted that the incident felt almost like an earthquake, but was too short to be one. He did fear that a naval jet from Naval Station Whidbey had crashed.
“The individual himself was… unlicensed and making fireworks. Unfortunately, something happened, don’t know what happened with a situation like that... you never know,” said Chief Swiger when he spoke to the media at the fire scene.
A large group of responders was present at the property well into the afternoon on Wednesday. Swiger said he was actually the first fire official to arrive at the fire and surveyed the surroundings as the flames were burning, since they were very close to a tree line. Very dry conditions on Whidbey Island sparked a bit of fear that this explosion could lead to a wildfire.
“[The fire] kind of singed some of the trees in the back, but they were safe,” Swiger said, confirming that nothing close to a wildfire occurred.
Investigators are now combing over this area to figure out what precisely happened with the fireworks. Chief Swiger says the man who was killed was in his 40s and that the house that was destroyed belonged to his parents. They escaped the flames, but their son did not.
Swiger says Island County will put a burn ban in place this coming Friday. He is also concerned about fireworks use in the coming weeks due to dry conditions. He is unsure whether investigators will ever truly know what happened with the fireworks that ultimately destroyed the home/
“If you don’t know what you’re doing, unfortunately, situations like this can happen. So just leave it to the professionals,” said Swiger. He did stress that the fire is fully contained and there is no greater danger to the area.
Seattle Police Department bomb squad and ATF agents participated in the initial stages of the investigation.
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