Two dead after powerful Washington home explosion

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. – The remains of two people were found following a powerful explosion Tuesday morning that leveled a home in western Washington.

The couple who died in the explosion in Port Orchard, about 15 miles west of Seattle, were 70-year-old William B. McDonald and his wife, 65-year-old Maria C. McDonald, said Kitsap County sheriff’s Deputy Scott Wilson.

Their identities will be officially confirmed by the Kitsap County coroner, but Wilson said they have no reason to believe anyone else was in the house when it exploded around 4 a.m. Tuesday.

Authorities have all but ruled out homicide as a cause of the explosion at the triple-wide manufactured home, but they have not determined how it happened, Wilson said. “At this point, we do not believe there is anything suspicious that leads us down the path of criminal activity,” he said.

As far as they know, no one in the neighboring homes was injured in the blast, although other buildings were damaged, including a nearby elementary school. The extent of the damage elsewhere involved broken windows and doors, which he said was “truly remarkable” considering the strength of the blast that shook the neighborhood, Wilson said.

Hundreds of calls came into the dispatch center reporting a loud, forceful explosion.

First responders arrived to find the home leveled and burning – “turned into Popsicle sticks,” Wilson said.

School officials were assessing the damage at Mullenix Ridge Elementary.

Sheriff detectives have requested the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms assist with the investigation.