Explosive Chester County house fire leaves 1 dead

An explosive house fire left at least one person dead in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Friday morning, Pennsylvania State Police said.

Firefighters from the Honey Brook Fire Company and East Brandywine Fire Company and Pennsylvania State Police troopers rushed to Hunters Run Road in Honey Brook just before 5 a.m. on Oct. 18, 2024, state police said.

The house was "fully involved" in flames when first responders got there, state police said.

Photos posted by the East Brandywine Fire Company on Facebook show heavy flames rising from the badly damaged house.

A source within the fire department told NBC10 that the house quickly became fully engulfed in flames after an explosion. The smoke could be seen from miles away.

Firefighters battling the flames found one dead person, police said, while calling the fist "an isolated incident."

The fire was put under control a little after 6 a.m., the source said.

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Images captured by SkyForce10 before daybreak showed the smoking remnants. Part of the house collapsed.

Neighbors react to house explosion

Neighbors said that they woke up to the overnight explosions. They also said that the person who lived inside the home left a note for first responders on his mailbox.

"There was three giant booms," Lea Attanasio said. "Boom. It rattled the windows and shook the house. Scared my cat."

Folks said they heard up to three explosions coming from the home. Some said they thought the blasts were coming from nearby massive oil holding tanks.

"The first one shook my bedroom window. I mean, I thought our corner tree fell and hit the side of the house," Chantay Horn explained.

Neighbors told NBC10 that they are relieved no one else in the home or the neighborhood were injured or killed.

The exact cause of the fire remained under investigation.