Indianapolis home explosion kills two

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) -  

The investigation into an explosion on the south side of Indianapolis could take weeks, an official with Citizens Energy said Sunday morning.

Two people were killed, and more than a dozen homes were damaged or destroyed after a large explosion rocked a south side neighborhood late Saturday night.

The Indianapolis Fire Department says the explosion happened in the 8400 block of Fieldfare Way, which is in a subdivision just off of Sherman Avenue south of Stop 11 Road.

Citizens Energy shut off gas to all the homes in the subdivision and investigated potential gas issues in the neighborhood. An official said the company had received no reports of an odor of gas in the area, and no gas leaks had been discovered as of early Sunday morning.

Indianapolis Fire Department planned to continue investigating Sunday morning when daylight was available.

IFD spokeswoman Bonnie Hensley says that about 200 people were taken to a shelter at Mary Bryan Elementary School.  Hensley said that about 15-20 people remained overnight at the shelter and were being assisted by the American Red Cross.  The rest of the residents stayed with friends or family. Officials searched each home in the area.

“We know nothing about [the victim] at this point…we don’t know the address of the house at this point,” Hensley said.  “There were two houses that exploded; the houses on either side of them have extensive damage.”

Hensley said that a couple of the firefighters said it looked like a war zone. Officials patrolled the scene throughout the night. They say more fatalities are expected.