TAYLOR, Mich. – UPDATE (10/13/17): Taylor officials report this was not an explosion. They continue to investigate the cause of the fire. They say it was not set intentionally.
ORIGINAL REPORT:
An explosion at a house in a Taylor neighborhood killed an elderly woman and her daughter.
Police are still investigating the cause of the blast, which devastated a family that has lived in the community for 60 years.
The mother and daughter who lived in the house became trapped when something inside exploded, officials said. Afterward, the fire spread quickly.
Video captured by neighbors shows firefighters breaking glass to the house on Buck Street near Telegraph Road.
Before fire crews arrived, neighbors did more than just watch. They tried to get inside.
"The smoke hit me in the face, but the heat is what prevented me from going in," neighbor Terri Slayden said.
Slayden knew a mother and daughter lived in the burning home across the street.
"It's terrible," Slayden said. "We've lived here for 55 years. They've lived here 60."
The mother was in her late 80s, and her daughter was nearly 60 years old.
"I'm told neither one was on oxygen," Slayden said.
But neighbors said they definitely heard an explosion before the fire started.
"All of a sudden, we heard a big boom," neighbor James Tittle said. "We thought it was coming from that way. We didn't know if it was an oxygen tank or a firecracker."
It's unclear what shook the neighborhood, but there's a good chance whatever it was started the fire, officials said. Neighbors insist it wasn't instant.
"We're gathering it was right around 10 minutes before we saw the fire," Slayden said.
Crews found the mother in a bedroom. After rushing her to the hospital, she died, but the daughter wasn't found until the flames were out. Firefighters said she was beyond recognition.
Neighbors watched in horror, hoping no one was home.
"We were all hoping they were actually at a doctor's appointment," Slayden said.
The victim's family members were too distraught to talk on camera.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Fire officials said there was no natural gas leak inside the home.