City Officials Believe Work Was Done At Home Prior To Explosion
1 Killed, 2 Hurt In Sun Prairie Explosion
Updated: 10:34 am CST November 11, 2010
SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. -- As investigators continue to search for a cause in the fatal home explosion early Tuesday morning in Sun Prairie, city officials said they believe heating work was done in the home last week.
One person, Andrew Manley, 26, of Sun Prairie, died in the explosion.
The listed homeowners -- Steven Slack and Lindsey Stephany -- were seriously injured and are hospitalized at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison. Stephany was upgraded to good condition on Wednesday, and Slack remains in fair condition.
The explosion reduced the house in the 1100 block of Coral Drive to rubble at about 3 a.m. Tuesday.
Several neighbors and friends of the home's occupants have said that a furnace was installed as recently as last week, but no city permits for the project were applied for, WISC-TV reported.
On Wednesday, Dennis Allen, the city's building director, said officials believe work was done at the house but they don't know who did it.
"I believe there probably was a replacement furnace done at that site, and I think the investigation will probably show that there was," Allen said.
When asked whether a furnace installed last week at 1139 Coral Drive was inspected, Allen replied, "We have not been to 1139 Coral Drive for an inspection."
Contractors said the practice is not uncommon. They said they sometimes do the work first and then apply for a permit, especially when a customer calls for same-day service.
Sun Prairie officials said that does happen, but mainly in emergencies and at night and on the weekend. Allen said in those instances, it can take days before inspectors look at a job.
"That's correct, because in that case we don't know about it," Allen said.
Allen said the homeowner is ultimately responsible for making sure a permit is taken out, though typically contractors take that step on the homeowner's behalf. He said his office is talking to contractors in an effort to determine who did the work on the home that exploded.
"We have made several contacts, but we don't have a confirmation back from a contractor that they did work at that site," he said.
He said if a reputable contractor did the work at the house, he believes they'd do the right thing and contact the city, but so far that hasn't happened.
"Good contractors operate that way," he said. "A good contractor will follow up that way."
Allen said the furnace is still sitting in the basement of the home's site. Inspectors have not yet said what caused the home to explode.
If a furnace was installed improperly and caused an explosion in the home, legal experts said there would be limited criminal liability for a contractor, though they would be subject to civil litigation and regulatory scrutiny.
Meanwhile, residents living near where the home exploded are returning to their houses after being evacuated on Tuesday. Police have cleared 10 families to go back to their homes, where they're finding a mess left from a blast that was so big it was seen on a surveillance camera blocks away.
There are piles of debris left at the site and around the neighborhood that residents will now have to clean up.
Gary Petersen returned home around noon Wednesday, getting his first good look at the rubble that was his neighbor's house.
"They had a party a couple weeks ago in the back yard there," said Petersen.
There is much more damage at Jerrid Luebke's house, which was next door to the home that exploded.
He's not able to go home yet, but he said he's thankful things aren't worse.
"They haven't been able to confirm any structural damage, but if you look on the side of the house, the damage to our house is a lot less extensive than what should have been for being only 15 feet away from them," Luebke said.
The explosion was captured on video at Prairie Jewelers. Owner Mike Durant said he was shocked to find camera images of debris that look like the home's roof flying through midair for more than a minute.
"For it to clear, for that house to be visible on this camera, it had to be 300, 400 feet in the air," Durant said. "It looked like smoke, kind of ghostly. The fact that it took an arc like that and landed on the ground is not characteristic of smoke, and it never changed from its house shape as it was flying through the air."
We Energies is inspecting houses in the neighborhood to make sure they're safe.
Petersen said he just can't get over the view of the damage the explosion caused.
"I'm surprised anybody got out of that alive. I'm surprised there's not more damage here," he said.
The two houses nearest to the exploded home still aren't able to be re-entered. One of them has been deemed unlivable by building inspectors.
Friends of Slack and Stephany have started a benefit fund on their behalf. Donations can be mailed or dropped off in person at any Associated Bank location and should include the account name: "Coral Drive Home Relief Fund." The donations are for Slack and Stephany.
