A DELMAR, NEW YORK, NEIGHBORHOOD WAS ROCKED by an explosion shortly before noon on Friday coming from a modest house in the Albany-area community. The woman who lives there with her teenage son called 9-1-1 to report the blast just as fire was starting up. First on the scene were two police officers who were met with heavy smoke coming from the house and just then two more explosions occurred.
Apparently learning from the uninjured lady that her son was inside in the basement, the officers went inside where they found the boy and pulled him out of the house. The 15-yr.-old was suffering from severe burns over his body and had lost a hand in the blast.
Times-Union / Tom Heffernan photo
When the fire units arrived on the scene, they decided on caution, not knowing what was causing the explosions, and stayed outside concentrating on protecting the exposures. Smaller explosions continued for a while as the house burned down. WRGB-TV reports:
The two town police officers who rescued the boy, along with two paramedics, were treated for “possible exposure to an unknown chemical,” police said. HAZMAT crews were reportedly decontaminating every emergency responder.
A paramedic told Heffernan that the basement was “filled with several chemicals,” while another emergency responder said that rocket fuel may have been among them. Agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives were investigating whether the chemicals were being used in the production of an explosive device.
The Albany Times-Union has MORE.
WXXA-TV Ch. 23 has this video report with good fire footage:
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