Home in Bothell destroyed in suspected gas explosion

An empty home in Bothell’s North Creek neighborhood exploded Wednesday morning, according to Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue.

Just before 10 a.m., Snohomish Regional Fire and Rescue posted on X showing pictures of the home at the 19700 block of 25th Drive Southeast in Bothell.

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John Holmes lives down the street and says he heard– and felt– the blast.

“I was in bed listening to Gee & Ursula. Lazy morning, being retired,” Holmes said. “All of a sudden, I thought a bomb hit the neighborhood. It was unbelievable. The whole house shook. It didn’t shake to the point where it knocked things off the walls or shelves, but it shook and the explosion was unbelievable.”

A suspected gas explosion destroyed a house in the 19700 block of 25TH DR SE in Bothell. More info to come out shortly. House was vacant and no one hurt. pic.twitter.com/0xB8IHpiHs

— Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue (@SnoRegionalFire) November 29, 2023

Mariclare DePape was outside warming up her car a few doors down. She was facing the other way but felt the massive jolt of the blast.

“I thought somebody hit me from the back,” she told KIRO Newsradio. But as she turned around, she realized what had happened. “I mean, if I hadn’t seen the flames, I probably would have thought it was an earthquake or something.” She said she and other neighbors called 911 and that firefighters were there within a few minutes.

Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue spokesperson Peter Mongillo confirmed there were no injuries.

“Thankfully, the family had left about about an hour before,” Mongillo said. “And this family just bought this house two days ago, and they just moved into it. They had a celebration, like a blessing of the house.”

Crews believed it was an accident involving a gas line.

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“When crews arrived, the entire garage portion of the house was completely blown apart, the garage door was thrown across the street, multiple windows were broken at neighbor’s homes and the house was fully involved [in flames],” Mongillo added.

He said the home is completely destroyed. Fire crews are on the scene working to clean up the debris, and fire marshals are investigating.

This is a developing story, check back in for details