Man Survives House Explosions, Twice
Survivor of Fire Sparked by Lightning a Decade Ago Escapes Explosion That Levels House
The Associated Press
ROSE TOWNSHIP, Michigan Nov. 23 A decade ago, Harebell Childress was bathing when lightning hit his home and set it on fire.
He escaped unscathed, wearing only a towel, and rebuilt his house.
Earlier this week, he was watching television when an explosion burned the house down. He got out with just cuts on his forehead and a sore back and left shoulder.
"I tell you, it's the Lord did it," the 70-year-old retired Pontiac school principal told The Oakland Press. "I was surrounded by a host of angels."
The odds of surviving two such disasters are so remote, actuaries for one Detroit-area insurer said they couldn't calculate the likelihood, the Detroit Free Press reported.
"He's lucky to be alive," said Sgt. Robert Gohl of the Oakland County Sheriff's Department Fire Investigation Unit.
The blast remains under investigation, but it appears the Tuesday night explosion resulted from a propane leak. The house's furnace, water heater and stove ran on propane, Gohl said.
The explosion blew out the windows of the home and collapsed the roof. Cinder blocks were blown hundreds of feet (meters) out into a field. The couch was knocked over.
"I thought it was a bomb, like terrorism or something," said Childress' niece, Marva Hanks, who lives nearby. "We're a family of believers. We've seen miracles on this property before."
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021123_788.html
Survivor of Fire Sparked by Lightning a Decade Ago Escapes Explosion That Levels House
The Associated Press
ROSE TOWNSHIP, Michigan Nov. 23 A decade ago, Harebell Childress was bathing when lightning hit his home and set it on fire.
He escaped unscathed, wearing only a towel, and rebuilt his house.
Earlier this week, he was watching television when an explosion burned the house down. He got out with just cuts on his forehead and a sore back and left shoulder.
"I tell you, it's the Lord did it," the 70-year-old retired Pontiac school principal told The Oakland Press. "I was surrounded by a host of angels."
The odds of surviving two such disasters are so remote, actuaries for one Detroit-area insurer said they couldn't calculate the likelihood, the Detroit Free Press reported.
"He's lucky to be alive," said Sgt. Robert Gohl of the Oakland County Sheriff's Department Fire Investigation Unit.
The blast remains under investigation, but it appears the Tuesday night explosion resulted from a propane leak. The house's furnace, water heater and stove ran on propane, Gohl said.
The explosion blew out the windows of the home and collapsed the roof. Cinder blocks were blown hundreds of feet (meters) out into a field. The couch was knocked over.
"I thought it was a bomb, like terrorism or something," said Childress' niece, Marva Hanks, who lives nearby. "We're a family of believers. We've seen miracles on this property before."
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021123_788.html
