UPDATE: 4/9/23 9:35 AM
LAYTON, Utah (ABC4) — The individuals injured in Saturday’s basement explosion have been identified as Brandon Kinsey and Shea O’Brien.
A GoFundMe has been started by their neighbors in an effort to help them with medical bills.
No further information is available at this time.
ORIGINAL POST: 4/8/23 5:18 PM
LAYTON, Utah (ABC4) — Two people were flown to the University of Utah Burn Center after receiving serious to critical injuries from a basement explosion in Layton earlier today, Apr. 8.
Layton authorities arrived on the scene within minutes after receiving “numerous calls” finding one side of a house completely blown off with no fire burning.
Officials say both burn victims were able to walk out of the home, however, the woman collapsed on the stairs and the man carried her the rest of the way. Authorities found neighbors attending to one of the victims, and the police proceeded to administer first aid until helicopters arrived.
Both the male and female were flown out to the burn center to receive treatment for their injuries. Layton Fire Battalion Chief Brad Wilkes said the burns were visible across their faces and arms, however, he is most concerned about any potential injuries from the blast itself.
A next-door neighbor, Preston Tiffany, said he saw the two victims “staggering out of their home” saying they were wounded and “definitely were in heavy shock.”
The victims confirmed there are no other individuals in the home and while they own several pets, the neighbors confirmed they saw the dogs playing outside. Officials also say they have not heard anything that would suggest pets were inside.
Officials say the two individuals were working on sealing floors in the basement of their home when there was a flask explosion of some kind blowing the entire side of the house apart and completely destroying the floors.
Authorities are unable to enter the home at this time as it is structurally unsound and dangerous. While officials say it will not collapse on its own, it is considered “uninhabitable” and will be torn down in the future. There are no gas leaks and all power and gas sources have been shut off from the home.
The neighboring house has received damages to the windows and has a wall leaning up against it. The residents have left the home for the night until it is completely stabilized. Tiffany, who lives in the home affected, said they were in the living room with their one-year-old child when “the ground started shaking.”
Another neighbor said he got a notification on his door cam and “heard an explosion followed by blood-curdling screams.”
Authorities are investigating the incident, saying they have not yet confirmed the exact cause of the explosion.
Wilkes says that while it is not uncommon for these kinds of home renovation projects to cause flash fires, he has never seen one cause a blast such as this one.
“I have not seen anything like this, well, where someone survived especially. No, I’ve never seen this kind of damage from a blast ever,” Wilkes said.
