No evidence of gas leak in house explosion
State and local investigators are combing through the wreckage left by an apparent gas explosion in Richfield yesterday. The blast destroyed the home on the 76 hundred block of 11th Avenue, just north of Interstate 494.
No one was home at the time, and the home was completely destroyed.
Centerpoint Energy officials said their was no indication of an unintentional gas leak in the area around the home, and crews were back checking the area with detectors this morning.
Centerpoint Energy spokeswoman Becca Virden declined to comment further and said the incident remains under investigation.
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Richfield Fire Chief Brad Sveum said it was "just luck of the draw" that no one was home.
Fire fighters evacuated about 20 homes in the surrounding area while crews checked for gas leaks. Virden said workers did not find any leaks, and residents were allowed back into their homes Thursday night.
Two adjacent homes were also damaged in the explosion.
Sveum confirmed there was sewer line construction work in the area, but said no crews were there at the time of the explosion.
(MPR reporters Madeleine Baran and Tim Nelson contributed to this report)
