Crews responded to a report of a gas leak in the 1000 block of East Home Road at about 1 p.m. on April 8 in a four-unit townhome that is part of a larger complex at Ridgewood Court Townhomes. The explosion happened as firefighters and EMS staff arrived, as they were already dispatched for a natural gas leak reported before the explosion.
Three victims, including Ducatel, were transported from the scene in multiple medical helicopters.
Edeline Ducatel, 50, of Springfield, died at the hospital on April 10. An 11-month-old girl remains hospitalized at the Shriners wing at Dayton Children’s Hospital, but is improving, Assistant Fire Chief Matt Smith said Thursday.
A large column of smoke erupted from the structure after the blast. Fire crews worked on the ensuing blaze for about 30 to 45 minutes, Springfield Fire Chief Brian Miller said then. Officials believed the incident was a natural gas explosion.
Crews extinguished flames on the Ducatels in the front yard of the structure and went into the building to rescue the baby. The baby’s crib had been hit with debris that covered it, causing her to suffer some burns, Smith said.
It’s unknown how many people were inside the townhomes, but others exited the building as fire crews worked to put down the flames.
The victims, Haitian Creole immigrants, lived in the same apartment together.
Smith said Springfield Fire Rescue Division personnel did not have a language barrier at the scene, but that may have been an issue for the resident who was knocking on doors asking if others smelled the gas before the incident.
“These women did not respond. That may have been a language barrier there. We don’t know,” he said.
The exact cause of the explosion is unknown, but Smith said it was something that caused the gas to flow into the townhome for possibly up to four hours before the explosion.
“What we do know is there was some sort of severing of the gas line into that apartment that allowed free-flowing gas,” he said. “(The gas) filled the apartment, then at that point it found some heat source, whether that was a candle, the stove, perhaps someone tried to light the stove, or even just static electricity, flipping a light switch... we don’t know yet.”
The building will be demolished eventually, and the damage estimate is $320,000, Smith said, but that’s an estimated guess because the insurance companies still need to look at replacement costs of both the building itself and the contents. It’s unknown when the building clean up will begin, but the fences are going up.
Several agencies, including the Clark County Emergency Management Authority, Salvation Army, Red Cross and other social work agencies, are helping the displaced residents from the other apartments in the building.
Since the incident, there has been one call to that complex but nothing was found, Smith said.
Smith said the explosion is a “very rare” occurrence.
“These happen across the country. In Springfield, it just doesn’t happen very often,” he said. “Going back to the records, trying to see if we could find another incident like this, and so far going back 10 years, we haven’t found anything.”
The incident remains under investigation by the Springfield fire and police divisions, as well as private investigators working for insurance companies.
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