SEQUIM — It sounded like a bomb; a sonic boom; a car crashing into their home. Residents living near the home on June Place that exploded in Sequim on Tuesday evening all said the noise was unlike anything they’d ever heard.
“It sounded like 10 times a sonic boom,” said Sue Smekal, a June Place resident who was at home when the explosion happened.
“It rocked the foundation of this house. All this debris went to the house next door and that got so hot it started bubbling and catching fire.”
Wednesday morning, the end of the June Place cul-de-sac was blocked off and the normally quiet street was packed with police, firefighters and onlookers.
Several neighbors reported hearing the explosion and then seeing plumes of black smoke wafting through the air.
Another June Place resident, Philip Mabelin, said a window at the back of his garage was destroyed and several household items were knocked to the ground.
“Something blew up and there was dark smoke, and when I looked, my window was broken,” Mabelin said.
Mabelin and other residents said that within 10-15 minutes of the explosion, several fire trucks and other emergency vehicles were on the scene. The cause of the blast remained under investigation Wednesday, but several neighbors reported that the owner was known to weld in his garage.
Clallam County Assessor and Treasurer lists the property at 132 June Place as being owned by Paul and Laurie Lewis.
Law enforcement has not identified the man found dead at the house.
“I knew the family personally,” said Amanda Fiorini, an area resident. “When I found out that it was their house, it just, you know, got me a little deeper. I knew that (the wife) was on vacation and that she was going to come home and that her husband was gone, dogs were gone, their whole life that they made was gone.”
Two of the people who came down to view the scene Wednesday were the former residents of the home who sold the house to the current owners in 2004. Maggie Bettger and her mother Penny Hooker said they found out about the explosion through social media.
“I took screenshots (from Facebook) to send it to the family, ‘Our childhood house just blew up,’” Bettger said. “I did a video call from the hill across the street, with the family on, like, ‘There’s nothing there, the house is just gone.’”
Bettger, who lives in Agnew now, heard the blast at her home and said it sounded like her neighbor’s barn crashing down.
“We’re just devastated for the family,” Hooker said. “Condolences and prayers to them.”
Amy Grice said she lives about half a mile away across a pasture and shortly after the blast, a small dog came running through their yard with a puncture in his side. From the dog’s tags they learned that Buddy —a miniature poodle — belonged to the owners of the home.
“We got the number of the man off the tag, but it just went to a message,” Grice said. “My son was able to ascertain where he lived from the message on his phone.”
The tags also said the dog was a patient at Greywolf Veterinary Hospital in Sequim, but because it was the evening and there are no emergency medical services for animals on the North Olympic Peninsula, Grice said she wasn’t able to take Buddy in until Wednesday morning.
“He seemed to be OK. He was eating and drinking and obedient,” Grice said. “We were just so amazed that he survived the blast.”
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
