Phoenix home explosion: Residents still searching for answer months after blast levels expensive house

PHOENIX - It has been over six months since an explosion near Piestewa Peak destroyed a multimillion dollar home and damaged others nearby, residents are still searching for answers.

The blast happened in February, in the area of 36th Street and Lincoln Drive. The destroyed home was nearly 5,000 square feet. The homeowners are reportedly attorneys in Phoenix specializing in nursing home abuse and personal injury.

Damages still apparent in neighborhood

On Aug. 11, we went back out to the neighborhood, and damages can still be seen.

"We are the same place we were three days after the explosion," said Elizabeth Bool.

Bool, known to her friends and family as ‘Betty,' has lived in her home for the past quarter of a century. She was wanting to put the home on the market to sell when the explosion happened.

"It just went into little tiny pieces, the whole house," said Bool.

The explosion scattered debris across the neighborhood, and the blast damaging at least eight homes, including Bool’s.

"The window in my living room started falling in, and I thought ‘am I losing my mind? Is that window really coming this way at me?’" Bool recounted. "As it was falling towards me, it created a different vacuum behind it, so then it fell out when it was loose from the rest of the window, and crashed."

Several homes near the explosion site were also left scarred from the blast, with some needing windows and doors, while others needing drywall and complete remodels.

For Bool, repairs prove difficult

Nowadays, Bool's breathtaking view of the Valley is still blocked by boards. For now, she says her insurance will pay for the replacements, but trying to find a window company to do the job is proving difficult.

"They are as busy as any other company nowadays, and they have so much other work to do," said Bool. "They can go to these jobs that are easier. You fix them and you go on. This, you might be stalled for -- they have to make the windows, and then they have to use cranes to get them in here."

Bool said she has not heard from the owners of the home that exploded. The homeowners did leave a letter that stated how the homeowners lost everything, and want to acknowledge everyone else’s loss as well, as well as a hope, on their part, that their neighbors' lives will return to normal.

As for the explosion, Phoenix Fire officials say the cause is still under investigation. We have reached out to the homeowners whose home exploded for comment, but we have year to hear back.