CANTON, Ohio — An investigation is intensifying four days after an explosion rocked a Canton neighborhood on Bonnet Place, and charges could be coming against the two men who were injured in the blast.
Division fire chief Steve Henderson said the two men got into a vacant house that was up for sale when the explosion happened. The men were not supposed to be inside, are now considered suspects, and charges could be filed against them this week.
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"We're pretty sure we've narrowed down the cause. There's still some information we're trying to gather," Henderson said. "We need to interview the two suspects."
Both men remain in the burn unit at Akron Children's Hospital.
The explosion, which was caught on neighborhood cameras after 4 a.m. last Thursday, destroyed or damaged several homes. Three homes were torn down, and many others sustained significant damage.
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Malone University student Sarah Bricker rents one of the homes damaged by the explosion. Windows were destroyed, and Bricker and her roommates keep finding new damage.
"I obviously heard a big explosion, like I could just feel it in my chest. My ears were ringing," Bricker said.
"We've been noticing more cracks in our house, in the walls and ceilings and even like in the floor where the wall meets the floor," Bricker said.
Neighbor Chuck Blunt said one of the injured men was thrown from the vacant house to his front yard across the street.
"He was lying in our yard screaming, 'Help me, help me, help me,' and I did," Blunt said.
Blunt's home also sustained significant damage. Windows are boarded up, and it is not safe for him or other family members to go back inside. They are getting help from the Red Cross.
"One minute, you're going to sleep, and the next minute, you actually wake up to this. But once again, thank God we did wake up and survive it," Blunt said.
While there is gratitude to be alive, Blunt is also angry over the devastation. Both he and Bricker are calling for justice if investigators can prove criminal acts led to the explosion.
"Oh hell, heck yes. Prosecute them 1,000%," Blunt said.
"If they are at fault, then I think they'll have to live with the consequences," Bricker said.
An excavator and other heavy equipment have been clearing away the land where the home exploded, and two giant piles of debris remain from two other homes that were demolished.
