The neighbors whose lives were upended by an explosion in their West Park community want to see accountability. NBC6’s Tony Pipitone reports
An explosion that tore through a West Park community back in December is still reverberating four months later, as neighbors say their lives have been upended and are suing to, they say, to hold those responsible accountable.
In three separate lawsuits, the neighbors say AmeriGas, the propane company that placed the tank outside the house that exploded, and the owners of the property share blame for an explosion that damaged not just their homes, but their peace of mind.
It happened a bit after midnight Dec. 19. Fire spread and debris rained down, leaving damage still evident today.
WEST PARK HOUSE EXPLOSION
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“Just having to get up to this every day, I dread getting up in the dark,” said Tangela Jordan, who is living with her mother in a house across the street behind window frames that are still boarded up.
“Just everything … I’m just really, really sick of it,” she said.
Her mother, Tommie Jordan, has lived in the house on SW 20th Street for 54 years.
“It just really affected my way of being,” she said. “I didn't realize how stressed I was until I had a heart attack. Just been in the dark for almost going on five months now.”
Attorney Cam Justice, who is representing the Jordans and two other families, claims in court filings the investigation found AmeriGas leased the 200-pound tank that fed the propane leak to a prior owner of the house more than four a half years before the explosion.
It was a three-year lease, but remained there with propane in it after the current owners bought the house as-is in October 2022, Justice said.
“Essentially, AmeriGas abandoned this tank,” he said, adding the company was “absolutely” responsible. “Under Florida and federal law, they have to do regular inspections of these tanks to make sure they’re safe.”
AmeriGas did not return an email seeking its comment on the lawsuit.
An attorney for the owners, Wil Morris, told NBC6 his clients deny responsibility, noting a contractor had been working around the tank the day before the explosion. Morris said they are preparing to file a counterclaim against those who placed the tank and worked on the house.
A Broward County fire investigation quoted witnesses who said they smelled a gas odor the day before the explosion.
“It is my hypothesis that gas vented into the structure via an area compromised on the gas line,” the fire inspector wrote. “Once inside, the gas was picked up through the air handler return, which then distributed and mixed the gases to all rooms within the structure via the air ducts.”
Once the gas reached its “explosive limits” an unknown ignition source – a refrigerator, air conditioning unit, air handler or some other device that releases an electrical charge – likely detonated the propane, the investigation found.
The City of West Park has cited the owners with code violations, among them creating a public nuisance.
Neighbors whose lives were upended say it’s more like their private nightmare.
“In my bedroom, if I don't turn on the light or turn on the TV, if I put my hand in front of my face, I cannot even see my hand,” said Tangela Jordan. “So, it's just very depressing. I'm anxious all the time. I'm angry.”
“On the inside, I don't have ceiling,” said Timothee Sonel, who had bought his house to renovate a few months before the house next door exploded. It’s now a total loss, he said, adding, “They were trying to say it’s not safe to live in there, and I cannot live in there.”
The company he said he thought he had insurance with – and to which, he alleges in his lawsuit, he was paying premiums included in his mortgage payments – claims the policy never went into effect.
Annette Brown, the third homeowner to file suit, was awakened that morning by her son’s screams to get out of their house and was hospitalized after showing signs of neurological symptoms consistent with a concussion.
She had lived next door to the exploding house for 26 years.
“Right now, I'm, uh,” she paused, showing the emotion of someone who will soon have to leave the home where she has been staying. “I’m just trying to live the best that I can.”
She lost her husband in August and her home, which was recently paid for, exactly four months later.
“They ruined my life. They ruined my…they took a lot of things away from me,” she said.
