WPRI-TV image

A BURRILLVILLE, RHODE ISLAND, MAN IS HOSPITALIZED this morning following and explosion and fire in the kitchen of his duplex home. 

Neighbors in the usually-quiet area said they heard two large “booms” and when they looked outside they saw smoke pouring from the windows of both apartments in the building.

WPRI-TV Ch. 12 reports on this video:

The video report repeats the earlier police declaration that bomb-making materials were found inside the home.  But neighbors who know the occupant are saying that he was a model rocket hobbyist and was often working with his rocket motors and models.  One person told the Providence Journal:

“A model rocket blew up in his face,” she said, citing the explanation she got from the victim as he was helped out of the house. “He said it blew up on the kitchen table.”

Laroque and other neighbors said the injured man, who they identified as Ronald Paquin, has an interest in toy rockets and is often working with them.

The victim is in Rhode Island Hospital and reportedly being treated for 2nd- and 3rd-degree burns to his arms and hands.  Witnesses also said that his face was covered with soot and he couldn’t see when he was taken away by ambulance.  The fire was contained to the downstairs kitchen and was quickly extinguished by the Nasonville FD.