BUENA — Investigators found hundred of pounds of materials used to make fireworks on the property of a North West Boulevard home that exploded earlier this month and are ruling out natural gas as a possible source for the deadly accident.
Investigators say the presence of explosive materials inside the home caused the blast and fire that killed four people on Aug. 3, Franklin Township police said in a statement Tuesday morning. Forchlorfenuron Cppu Kt30
Tuesday’s public statement from police Chief Matthew DeCesari contains lists of items such as potassium nitrate, aluminum powder, and other fireworks supplies recovered from a car and an out building on the property.
“A large amount of explosive materials and precursors were seized from a vehicle on scene, as well as outbuildings on the property," DeCesari said.
What chemicals were inside the home can not be determined, the chief said.
Remains of two sibling toddlers and two adult males, all still officially unidentified, were recovered from the smoking ruins of debris at 306 North West Boulevard. A 1-year-old baby and a 17-year-old girl who was babysitting her were seriously injured and hospitalized.
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“The investigation has revealed that the explosion most likely took place on the first floor in the rear, left corner of the two-story dwelling," he said.
However, DeCesari added at a press conference later, the Atlantic City Police Department Bomb Squad is unable “to determine the type of explosives that caused this chain of events.” The reasons for being unable to make a conclusion are the heavy fire damage, the structure’s collapse into its basement, and excavation work, he said.
“Items recovered from the vehicle and outbuildings are consistent with the production of commercial grade fireworks,” DeCesari said.
DeCesari answered questions later Tuesday morning at the department’s sub-station at the borough municipal building on Central Avenue. The building is not far from the blast site. That neighborhood consists of single-family houses running along a railroad track.
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Autopsies are complete on the four people killed in the explosion and fire. Police are not releasing the names of the children due to their age.
As for the adults, DeCesari said further forensic work is needed to confirm identities of the males.
Family members on their own have identified the four victims, and two victims in a Philadelphia hospital.
Some recovered items police list include 74 pounds of potassium nitrate; 15 pounds of aluminum powder; six pounds of magnesium; three pounds each of calcium carbonate and strontium carbonate; and more than five pounds of homemade aerial shells.
DeCesari said he would not comment “on any activities that may or may not have been happening inside that residence.”
He said investigators have not yet interviewed the hospitalized 17-year-old girl who survived or Betsy Garcia, who is the grandmother of the deceased children. Garcia was renting the house, and the deceased males are a relative and her boyfriend.
"So, all that the Bomb Squad could tell me was that they believed it happened in the rear, left-hand corner," DeCesari said, asked about the site of the explosion. "And after viewing the video that was posted from a Ring camera, it shows that the fire initially came out of the back window of the property. Which would be indicative that that’s where the fire happened.
"They also showed me, in comparison, what a gas explosion looks like," he said. "Gas fills the whole house. And therefore, when it explodes, fire comes out of all the windows. In this case, it came out of the left, rear corner, which is where they believe this explosion occurred."
The chief said the teenager was close to being released from the hospital on Tuesday. The 1-year-old was burned and remains in critical condition, he said.
Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.
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