UPDATE AS OF JULY 21, 2021: Plano Police and Plano Fire Marshals began a joint investigation as to the cause of the explosion. After further investigation, they have determined that the explosion that leveled the home on Cleveland Dr. may have been intentional.
"Based on the investigation, this incident appears to be isolated and there is no indications of any threats to our community," the Plano authorities said. "The investigation remains ongoing."
Updates to follow.
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At around 4:40 p.m. yesterday, July 19, a force very different from the intermittent summer thunderstorms throughout the day suddenly rocked through Plano.
A home had exploded.
Reports of the Plano home explosion flooded in to Plano Fire-Rescue, and crews were dispatched to the 4400 block of Cleveland Drive.
The explosion was felt by people as far as a mile from the site.
Here's what we know so far.
Six people are injured.
Firefighters arrived to find the one home completely destroyed by the explosion. Insulation was caked onto cars parked along the street. As many as four homes down from the one that exploded showed some kind of impact from the blast.
The two immediately neighboring homes sustained the most major damage, besides the home leveled by the explosion. Windows in surrounding homes where shattered outward, indicating the force and power of the blast which generated great heat and sucked in oxygen as it happened.
One resident was extricated from the rubble of the exploded home and taken immediately to Medical City Plano. Five residents who were in the home next door at the time of the explosion were also transported to Medical City Plano, and to Children’s Medical Center Plano.
It has been confirmed, according to WFAA's continuous reporting, that three children were among the injured residents rushed to medical care.
The resident in the home on the other side of the exploded home was not injured and did not require medical care.
The investigation is ongoing as to the probable gas leak that caused the Plano home explosion.
UPDATED
Plano’s Fire Marshal states the explosion was most likely caused by a gas leak inside the house, but further investigation will be necessary to determine exactly where the gas leak was located within the home.
The extensive damage to the home will hinder these ongoing investigations, Plano Fire-Rescue said in a statement. In addition, the Fire Marshal has emphasized that the leak was isolated to the home at 4429 Cleveland Drive and no other homes are in danger.
Representatives from the Plano Police Department’s Hazardous Devices Unit responded to the scene with an explosives detection canine, along with Plano Fire-Rescue fire investigators and representatives from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and FBI.
The canine unit didn't hit on any explosives or hazardous materials, and Plano Police determined the site was not a crime scene. No hazardous materials were found, and no evacuations were necessary other than from the three damaged homes.
Fire-Rescue crews cleared the scene at approximately 8:40 p.m. leaving the scene to the Plano Fire-Rescue Fire Marshal and his investigators.
Gas and electricity was turned off to the majority of the homes on the street until approximately 9:30 p.m. on July 19, when Atmos Energy and Oncor Electric representatives determined it was safe to reinstate gas and power.
The investigation is continuing today. Updates to follow.
