American Fork duplex explodes, killing woman

A woman was found dead early Wednesday after an American Fork home suddenly exploded in a loud boom that startled neighbors in the senior living community.

The explosion was reported just before 6 a.m. at a duplex on the end of a cul-de-sac near 300 E. Main Street, police said. The woman’s body was discovered as investigators combed through the wreckage. She was later identified as Kathy Harrison, 78.

Another woman who lived in the duplex escaped with minor injuries, police said. A dog also escaped and appeared to be in good condition.

Jim Hopkinson, who lives across the street from the duplex, heard the “huge” explosion from inside his home.

“I thought for a minute my furnace had blown, or something like that,” he said while standing near the still-active scene Wednesday afternoon.

Hopkinson immediately rushed out to see the duplex across the street swallowed in large, spitting flames.

He found the woman who escaped the explosion in the cul-de-sac, wearing pajamas and stockings on her feet, with insulation “all over her hair.”

“We took her into our home, and we took care of her,” Hopkinson said.

Fire and other emergency vehicles soon swarmed the small street, Hopkinson said. They quickly extinguished the fire as other first responders helped evacuate nearby homes, which had been damaged by flying debris, officials said.

It is unclear what caused the explosion, which destroyed the duplex. Hopkinson said a gas company seemed to have been doing some sort of work at the same duplex for a few hours Tuesday.

Fire crews continue to investigate the explosion. Utah State Fire Marshal Ted Black said he sent a state investigator to the scene Wednesday at the request of American Fork officials.

“These are very difficult cases to investigate,” Black said, “and we’ve only just begun. We want to make sure this sort of thing doesn’t happen to anyone else.”