House Explodes in Mid-Town Tulsa, One Man Critically Injured

Photos courtesy: KOTV - The News on Six An overnight explosion near 15th and Harvard shook mid-town Tulsa around 10:45 pm Tuesday. Two men, who were inside the residence,

Wednesday, August 2nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Photos courtesy: KOTV - The News on Six

An overnight explosion near 15th and Harvard shook mid-town Tulsa around 10:45 pm Tuesday. Two men, who were inside the residence, where injured in the blast. One is at a local hospital listed in critical condition and underwent surgery early this morning. The other man was treated at the scene. Investigators at the scene say a natural gas leak may be to blame for the explosion that totally destroyed the duplex.

When interviewed by The News on Six, neighbors were still shaken by the incident. Gary Hight lives two houses down. "I was asleep, sleeping real well,â€ he said. â€œI just thought it was a clap of thunder, because I was really in a deep sleep. It broke the glass out of my window."

Dorene Gould is the closest neighbor to the duplex. She was awake and saw the explosion. â€œI was sitting on the couch watching TV,â€ she said. â€œA couple of friends of mine had come over to watch TV. â€œI got up to answer the door and when I opened the door and KABOOM.â€ Gould's bedroom and living room were severely damaged in the explosion. She wonders what would have happened had she not answered the door. "It might have been pretty bad,â€ she said. â€œI could've been killed."

One neighbor says she smelled natural gas when she walked by the home just minutes before the explosion. She and her daughter had gone to the store to get a soft drink. On the way back home, they witnessed the blast. "It was unbelievable, this big whoosh, big smoke in the air. The house just crumbled and fell in," said Kim Gardner.