A man is believed dead after several explosions destroyed his house in Mountain View’s Deerfield subdivision Sunday afternoon. The house blew up after his wife reported that he had threatened suicide.
It is unknown what triggered the four to six explosions at the house at the corner of Fawn Trail and Shirebourne Road, but SBI arson agents are investigating the fire’s cause.
“We know that he did have propane gas and we assume that’s what caused the explosion, but we won’t know for sure until we conduct the investigation,” said Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid.
The 42-year-old victim’s name was not released at the scene.
Officers learned that there was something wrong at the home when they were summoned to the scene at about 1:30 p.m. The man’s wife called 911 to report that her husband had threatened suicide and there were several guns in the house.
When she told officers that she was afraid for his safety and hers, they advised her to get an involuntary commitment order from the magistrate.
She left her husband alone in the house and got the order. Catawba County deputies set up a perimeter around the house.
In preparation for serving the order, the multi-agency Special Tactics and Response Team, better known as the STAR Team, moved in at about 2:30 p.m. to relieve the deputies and maintain the perimeter.
“We saw him looking out the window near the safe where the guns were,” Reid said.
Reid led the STAR Team before he was elected Sheriff in November and continues to do so. The team was preparing for the county’s 10-member crisis negotiation team to make contact with the man in the house when the first explosion went off on the right side of the house.
Reid said he and some of his men were within 10 yards of the house when it blew up.
“We heard a scream,” he said. “We couldn’t give the negotiators the time to see if they could do any good.”
There were three or four explosions after the first and the whole house caught fire. Then officers heard the sound of what may have been ammunition exploding inside the burning house.
“We’ve never had a house set on fire before,” Reid said. “This is a first in 14 years for the STAR Team.”
Several fire departments responded to the fire, but officers did not let them get near the house until they were sure the scene was safe, Reid said.
Law enforcement officers believe the man was alone in the house at the time.
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