Body found at site of Madison home explosion

UPDATE (WKOW) -- Madison Fire Chief Steven Davis says a body was found at the site of a home that exploded Wednesday afternoon in the southwest part of the city.

Davis says the body was found around 9:00 a.m. Friday morning and his teams have suspended their investigative work while the medical examiner is at the site.

Davis previously said authorities had spoken to a homeowner, but he confirmed Thursday afternoon one person was unaccounted for.

The cause of the explosion and resulting fire is still not known.

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UPDATE (WKOW) -- The Madison Fire Department says people can now get back into their homes after Wednesday's house explosion in Madison.

The explosion kept people living in eight homes on Stratton Way from returning home.

Firefighters tell 27 News the homeowners need an escort from a Madison Police officer in order to get back in. The Madison Police officer-in-charge who was on duty Thursday night told us they've escorted at least one person back in.

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MADISON (WKOW) -- One resident of the home that was destroyed Wednesday in Madison remains unaccounted for, according to Madison's fire chief.

"We have not accounted for one of the residents that’s registered as living in the house," Madison Fire Chief Steven Davis said during a Thursday afternoon news conference, Sept. 14, 2017. (Scroll down to watch full news conference.)

Davis said a task force has been assembled to find the cause working throughout the day to look for any evidence or for the source of the explosion at 7806 Stratton Way on Madison's southwest side.

"As we pull apart the debris pile we’re looking for indications.of the cause," Davis said.

He also said that residents in the vicinity of the explosion who were displaced last night will be allowed to return home. Natural gas to the block has been capped immediately after the explosion, but that MGE was on scene restoring service to the affected homes.

Davis said the task force likely will be on scene at least through tomorrow because of the significant amount of debris. The walls fell out and the roof and attic fell into the basement, Davis said.

The first firefighting units arrived at 2:04 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 and noted that the structure was a total loss, Davis said.

They were able to make contact late this afternoon with the homeowners, according to a fire department spokesperson, however they weren't the one's registered as living in the home.

One person from the block that was transported to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.and a firefighter received minor injuries.

The explosion rocked the quiet neighborhood.

"It was this big boom," said Cory Zeman as he described the house explosion that rocked his neighborhood. 

"I live in a six unit building and it felt like a semi-truck bolted into my building. It visibly shook me," he said, still shaken by what happened. 

Soon after the blast, neighbors started coming out of their homes to see what happened. Janet and Joe Tegtmeier lived just three houses down from the single-family home that exploded. They were working from home when they felt the jolt. The couple says their home wasn't damaged, but a few pictures did fall off their walls. 

They stepped outside and saw the destruction. 

"It was gone. The flames were 20-30 feet high," said Janet. 

"Higher than the treetops," Joe added. "Never thought that our house would be within a crime scene zone. Yeah, that hasn't happened before," Janet said in disbelief. 

For more on this story: http://www.wkow.com/story/36369641/2017/09/14/breaking-body-found-at-site-of-madison-home-explosion


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