A lighting strike may have been responsible for a deadly explosion in August that leveled a Keswick home and killed one person.
While the final report has not been released, investigators believe that the strike hit a gas line days before the fatal blast, Albemarle County Fire Rescue Chief Dan Eggleston told Cville Right Now.
“The line, when it ruptures, it usually burns,” Eggleston said. “This one might have burned and then went out. We suspect that it flooded the house with gas and then when the woman came in and flicked the light switch or ignited it, it blew up.”
Justine M. Joscelyne, 76, was killed in the Aug. 19 explosion. A second male victim is recovering from the incident at the VCU Burn Center.
The owners were not present at the time of the explosion.
The two-story home was located on Ferndown Lane in the Glenmore subdivision in Albemarle County. Home values in the subdivision are estimated at more than $1 million.
Thirty-eight homes were damaged due to the explosion; 12 homes were initially deemed inhabitable due to varying levels of damage, but only three still have that designation. ACFR inspected 202 nearby homes following the blast.
ICYMI
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Eggleston will retire from ACFR on Friday after more than four decades in the profession, including 23 years in Albemarle County.
Keswick had another deadly fire in October on Starry Sky Lane that killed two people and left two children with injuries. Ashley Williams and Stephen Williams, both 37, were transported to UVA hospital where they were both pronounced dead. The preliminary investigation revealed the fire to be accidental in nature; no further details on the cause have been released. Two gofundme pages set up to collect donations for the surviving children’s care have raised nearly $200,000.
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Crystal Graham
