JUNE 25, 2015
MAQUOKETA, Iowa A man died from injuries suffered this morning when a house exploded between Maquoketa and Preston.
Volunteer firefighters from Preston and Miles
pulled Stephen W. Brandenburg, 73, from the basement of the remnants of a
home at 2236 312th Ave., just off Iowa 64, after responding to the
scene at about 4:30 a.m.
He was transported to Jackson County Regional Health Center in Maquoketa and then airlifted to University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics in Iowa City, where he died of injuries.
Responding firefighters and law enforcement initially thought the destruction was weather-related, but based on the debris trail, they concluded it was an explosion, according to Jackson County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Steve Schroeder. Staff with the Iowa State Fire Marshal Division are investigating the cause of the explosion, he added.
Neighbors said and online property records state the home is owned by Joseph Brandenberg. His father was the only person in the home at the time of the explosion.
Light-colored insulation and hunks of broken wood, metal and glass laid strewn across a large swatch of the property this morning. Insulation also was scattered across the roof of the Brandenburg Drainage buildings located directly behind the residence.
Mattresses were haphazardly piled toward the center of the debris while chairs with bent and twisted legs rested near the perimeter of the scene. A ripped half of a front door laid in the yard, and torn blinds dangled from a tree near the road.
The explosion also tore pieces of siding off of a neighboring shed. Near the center of the strewn materials, one side of a porch fence remained standing.
Roger Stewart, a neighbor who lived about a mile down the road from the Brandenburg property, said a “terrible, terrible explosion rattled the neighborhood.”
Leo Trenkamp described hearing a “boom” from his home in Preston at about 4:30 a.m.
“I’ve never seen anything like that, and I’ve lived around the area all my life,” the farmer said today as he walked along the highway to observe the damage.
Family members of Brandenburg picked through the debris this morning. One woman carried flowers. They declined to speak to the media.
Other relatives gathered to the side of the area cordoned off with yellow police tape.
“They’re good neighbors,” Ron Fier said across the highway. “You hate to see something like this happen, no matter what.”
Source:http://www.thonline.com
He was transported to Jackson County Regional Health Center in Maquoketa and then airlifted to University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics in Iowa City, where he died of injuries.
Responding firefighters and law enforcement initially thought the destruction was weather-related, but based on the debris trail, they concluded it was an explosion, according to Jackson County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Steve Schroeder. Staff with the Iowa State Fire Marshal Division are investigating the cause of the explosion, he added.
Neighbors said and online property records state the home is owned by Joseph Brandenberg. His father was the only person in the home at the time of the explosion.
Light-colored insulation and hunks of broken wood, metal and glass laid strewn across a large swatch of the property this morning. Insulation also was scattered across the roof of the Brandenburg Drainage buildings located directly behind the residence.
Mattresses were haphazardly piled toward the center of the debris while chairs with bent and twisted legs rested near the perimeter of the scene. A ripped half of a front door laid in the yard, and torn blinds dangled from a tree near the road.
The explosion also tore pieces of siding off of a neighboring shed. Near the center of the strewn materials, one side of a porch fence remained standing.
Roger Stewart, a neighbor who lived about a mile down the road from the Brandenburg property, said a “terrible, terrible explosion rattled the neighborhood.”
Leo Trenkamp described hearing a “boom” from his home in Preston at about 4:30 a.m.
“I’ve never seen anything like that, and I’ve lived around the area all my life,” the farmer said today as he walked along the highway to observe the damage.
Family members of Brandenburg picked through the debris this morning. One woman carried flowers. They declined to speak to the media.
Other relatives gathered to the side of the area cordoned off with yellow police tape.
“They’re good neighbors,” Ron Fier said across the highway. “You hate to see something like this happen, no matter what.”
Source:http://www.thonline.com