DETROIT – A house explosion rocked a neighborhood and left an expensive path of destruction as trouble for neighbors continue on Detroit’s west side.
The explosion occurred Monday (Oct. 2) around 3:30 p.m. in the 16000 block of Sussex Street near Greenfield Avenue and Puritan Street.
When the vacant house blew up, neighboring houses saw bricks flying, windows shattering, and even a tree was snapped in half.
And for one elderly neighbor, she’s scrambling to get her blown-out windows fixed.
Mary Graham, 94, has lived in the neighborhood for 54 years. The explosion badly damaged her home.
“I am 94 years old, and I was born in 1929,” said Graham. “I have to leave my home of 54 years and go somewhere.”
Graham is not leaving her home for good, but for a few months while her house is being repaired to her windows. The walls of her home are cracked as well.
Read: Fire crews respond to house explosion on Detroit’s west side
Graham heard the blast and then heard waves of debris hitting her home.
“I came to the front door and held on as I almost fainted,” Graham said. “The house was gone.”
On most afternoons, Graham would sit on her front porch, but luckily, on Monday (Oct 2), she wasn’t.
“I’m usually out here in the sun getting my Vitamin D between 3 and 3:30 p.m.,” Graham said. “I was out there, and this is where I sit. I wasn’t meant to be out here.”
The home adjacent to the vacant house that exploded has been condemned due to the damage it received.