Police are investigating the cause of an explosion that badly damaged a mobile home in Cedar Rapids and injured four people. It happened around 2:30 Monday afternoon at the Prairie Oaks Manufactured Housing Community on the city’s southwest side.
Tracy Ryan lives nearby. “I was just sitting in my house and I heard a big boom and next thing I know, I went outside to look around, didn’t see anything and next thing I know here comes the fire trucks and smoke billowing out of the house,” Ryan said.
The explosion and fire are being called “suspicious.” An officer and neighbors said investigators pulled out chemicals and other items from the home. Greg Buelow, spokesman for the Cedar Rapids Fire Department, says four people were inside the home when the blast happened.
“The back wall was partially blown out. The area on the inside that that would involve is the master bathroom and master bedroom,” Buelow said. A 30-year-old woman and a 7-year-old girl were taken to a hospital. A 34-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy also had minor injuries and were treated at the scene.
All four are expected to be okay. Neighbors say the incident follows a fire a couple months ago that destroyed another mobile home in Prairie Oaks. That fire was blamed on a meth lab.
By Jill Kasperie, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids