Break-in leads to explosion at westside home

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - “Gone.” That was the word used by multiple callers to 911 dispatch to describe a house that exploded early Thursday morning on the city’s west side.

It was an explosion like they had never heard or felt before,  one resident of the west side Indianapolis neighborhood said as they were jolted from their sleep at 12:40 am.

Their home was damaged, their alarm was set off but when they looked to their neighbor's property, the house was leveled.

Some of the neighbors said they even saw a blue flash when the one story house at 1021 S. Warman Ave. exploded.

Debris from the explosion was strewn over more than two blocks surrounding the site.

No one was injured.

Indianapolis firefighters in full turnout gear evacuated houses surrounding the explosion for a brief time while they investigated and called for the utilities to be secured.

Citizens Energy investigators said the explosion was caused by a break in a residential gas line.

The gas service at the location has been shut off.

Contractors who were renovating the home said Indianapolis Fire Department investigators told them that it appears someone broke into the home to steal copper piping and damaged a gas line, causing the explosion.

The owner, Lennie Young,  told investigators the unoccupied house was undergoing renovation after a fire last summer. Cherie Klawun, the general contractor working on the renovation, said there had been several break-ins since then.