Investigators determine explosion that leveled Plano house may have been intentional
Investigators have determined that a person may have intentionally caused a house to explode in Plano, authorities said Wednesday.
The explosion, in which six people were injured on Monday, was likely caused by a gas leak within the home, the Plano Fire Department has said.
City authorities did not release other information about the investigation beyond noting that the explosion appears to be isolated and that there is no indication of a broader threat. They have not publicly identified a suspect.
The house, at 4429 Cleveland Drive, was leveled in the explosion about 4:45 p.m. Monday. Six people went to a hospital — one person who was inside the house and a family of five people inside a neighboring house, the fire department said.
Plano police detectives and fire marshals have jointly been investigating the cause.
Attorneys for Joseph Kupfer, who was inside the home that exploded, told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV that their immediate concern is the well-being of their client, who is in the Intensive Care Unit.
“Our client is one of the six victims in this case and he’s lying in a hospital bed fighting for his life,” Scott J. Becker, an attorney with McCathern Law Firm in Frisco, told WFAA.
The TV station asked Kupfer’s attorney about the investigative finding that the explosion might have been intentional.
“It seems remarkable to me that in a span of 24 hours they can go from an ‘accidental gas leak’ to ‘this must be intentional,’” Becker told WFAA, adding that he doesn’t know what information led to that conclusion and that he’s not concerned about any “unfounded narratives” surrounding his client.
The Jagielski family — a husband, wife and three children — live next door to the home that exploded and were the others injured, according to a GoFundMe page that is collecting donations.
The friend who started the GoFundMe, Mae Reedy, told a GoFundMe organizer that the entire family went to the hospital. The father and mother had surgery to remove glass and debris from their bodies.
The children — ages 3, 6 and 10 — were treated for minor cuts, but their father and mother, Philip and Jennifer Jagielski, are still in the hospital with serious injuries, WFAA reported.
Jennifer shielded one of the children from the explosion, Reedy told WFAA. “Every cut she had on her and every piece that went into her, it was one less piece in her child,” Reedy said.
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 5:48 PM.
