'Felt It Through My Body' Says Plano Resident 5 Months After Nearby House Exploded, Leaving Neighbors To Rebuild
PLANO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Some Plano residents are starting this new year still rebuilding their homes after a house on their street exploded last July.
It happened along the 4400 block of Cleveland Drive.
Shane Seiferd lives two doors down and said he was home at the time when the blast rocked the neighborhood. "I was sitting inside the living room on the other side of these windows when the explosion took place."
Seiferd said he's lucky the windows he was sitting near shattered away from him. "Felt it through my body. Heard some loud bangs on the roof. That's the roof of the house that exploded landing on it."
His family's house sustained more than $110,000 in damages.
He said they needed two walls rebuilt, along with some of their roof, new roof shingles, a new garage door, back door, all-new brick and windows, and some new flooring.
Now, five months later, he said he and his family are hoping the renovations will be completed so they can move back in by the end of next month and before their lease on their nearby rental home expires.
While work is being done on their home, the city of Plano said two other houses remain red-tagged, which means no one can go inside them.
Seiferd said, "We're very blessed. Ours is coming along quicker than just about everyone else in the neighborhood. We're going to be really excited to get back into our home. I know my sons are ready to get back into their home because it's been a long time since we've been living in our home."
He said while his wife Laura and their two sons, eight and ten years old, weren't home at the time of the blast, it has had an impact on their younger son. "He has a constant fear of potentially what could happen to me since I was at the home when it exploded."
Last July, the Plano Fire Department said the house exploded because of a gas leak.
The police department said it may have been intentional, but didn't elaborate.
On Wednesday, a police department spokesman said detectives are still waiting on items to return from the lab along with a report from the ATF, which could still take another two or three months.
The resident of the house that exploded, Joseph Kupfer, was among the six people hospitalized after the blast.
His attorney said an interview with his client isn't possible. "I hope that he gets better. There's no anger or animosity towards him at all."
Seiferd said there are a couple of silver linings among all the chaos.
He said their home will be better than before and that they have become closer to their neighbors. "We've had meals with our neighbors which we never had before. We've gotten to know our neighbors really well. Now, we communicate on a regular basis."
He said they're hoping for a smoother and calmer 2022.
