By Scott Rains
The Lawton Constitution
TEMPLE, Okla. — Investigators are working to piece together what happened to cause a Temple home to explode with fire and kill at least one man Tuesday afternoon.
Cotton County Undersheriff David Johnston said dispatchers received a call shortly after 2 p.m. about an explosion at a home on Minnesota Street, near Walnut, that had washed over the 800-square-foot house. The smoking and black-charred remnants, surrounded by fencing and other materials, appeared to have been blown back from the explosion’s force.
“We got here fairly quick and it was totally engulfed in flames,” said Temple Fire Chief Chris Medcalf. “We got it out fairly fast but it was really going there.”
Johnston said that at least one man was found dead inside but he was awaiting the state medical examiner and fire marshal’s investigation at the scene in the town’s northwest quadrant. He said the name of the victim won’t be released until the medical examiner’s investigation and notification of family members. He declined to speculate on the cause of the explosion and fire but didn’t rule out propane as the ignition propellant. Damage was contained to the one house.
Maria Arzola lives three blocks away from the scene but her sister lives across the street. She said she was cooking when she heard “something like a bomb exploding,” Arzola said. When smoke became visible, Arzola’s husband went to the location along with another neighbor to attempt to assist and she went to her sister’s house. The house was beyond individual assistance and, she said, there wasn’t any way to help the man at the house.
“My sister said she kept seeing him going in the house and back out to his truck,” Arzola said. “Later on was the explosion.”
“We were worried it was going to jump over here but the wind was blowing to the south and kept it from getting anything else,” she said.
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