PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — In the quiet of the early morning, the sound of a deadly home explosion in Plainfield Township could be heard from miles away.
According to the Kent County Sheriff's Office, the explosion happened around 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday on Rollaway Drive and is believed to have been an attempted murder suicide.
The sheriff's office says the house's occupants, a husband and wife, were likely in the house at the time of the blast. While the wife was quickly rescued by neighbors and brought to a hospital where she was last listed in critical condition, detectives say the husband likely died as a man's body, which has yet to be positively identified, was pulled from the remains of the house around noon.
In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Kent County Undersheriff Bryan Muir shared that the deadly incident was being investigated as a murder suicide, with detectives suspecting the explosion was intentionally set by the husband.
That morning, Kurt Dutrizac and Chanel Raddatz were asleep in their home when their neighbors' house went up in a ball of light and fire. Immediately, they awoke.
"I initially thought we were being bombed," Raddatz said. "It was a very traumatic experience."
"Initially, it was shocking," she said. "Shocking to think it could happen to anybody, seeing that burst of flame, knowing that people could be inside, it was very traumatic."
Dutrizac and Raddatz said their home's soffits and drywall were damaged by the force of the explosion, and others in the area reported broken windows and found debris in the yards.
On Tuesday morning, though, the couple's concern was with their neighbors. At the time of our interview, the Kent County Sheriff's Office had not yet announced they were investigating the deadly incident as a murder suicide, and the man's body had not yet been found.
"It's good to know that there is that level of response when it's needed," Dutrizac said.
