New details reveal how a homeowner allegedly caused his Rosedale home to explode in the early morning of July 1, hours after he left for Jamaica on a one-way ticket.

Baltimore County Police charged Mark Anthony Hawkins on Tuesday night with first-degree arson and malicious burning after the explosion of his Rosedale home.

The explosion at 2 a.m. collapsed Hawkins’ home at 8120 Callo Lane within minutes. By the time firefighters arrived at 2:06 a.m., charging documents state, the entire single-family home had been reduced to a large field of debris.

Investigators allege that Hawkins intentionally disconnected the natural gas line flowing to the water heater in the basement of his home before leaving to catch a one-way flight to Jamaica.

The natural gas continuously flowed for about 18 hours until it caused the fuel-air explosion the next day.

For months investigators combed through the rumble of Hawkins’ home at 8120 Callo Lane to discover the source of the explosion.

BGE detected an unusually high amount of natural gas flowing into Hawkins’ home around 6 a.m. on June 30.

That was moments before phone records show Hawkins and his wife left for Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, shortly after 7:30 a.m., to catch a “one-way only” flight to Jamaica, according to charging documents.

Fire investigators found no clothing or shoes in the debris from the explosion, and the Hawkins’ cars, a 2014 Cadillac and 2018 Honda, were not parked at the home.

Baltimore Gas and Electric Company personnel couldn’t find any natural gas leaks that would have caused the explosion.

The worst of the damage was concentrated around the water heater, where the natural gas line was found to have been disconnected in the basement of the home.

Callo Lane is part of a densely packed suburb in Rosedale, just outside Interstate 95. In the early hours of July 1, Hawkins’ neighbors reported hearing a loud bang and flash of orange as the house on their street burst into flames.

Rija Ikharia, who lives in the house next door to Hawkins, said she called 911 and helped usher her family out to the sidewalk after seeing flames engulf her neighbor’s home.

“We were worried if the neighbors were inside. We wondered if we were witnessing a murder,” Ikharia said in a July interview with The Banner.

Police were able to call Hawkins several times while on his trip to Jamaica, a trip that he claimed to have saved up $5,000 for, according to charging documents.

Hawkins and his wife, Denise Hawkins, moved to 8120 Callo Lane three years ago. The couple haven’t had any repairs or maintenance work done to their home’s appliances.

The home was first built in 1967 and was sold to the couple for $335,000. Prior to the explosion, there were no issues in any of the home’s electric or natural gas appliances.

In a phone call with detectives, charging documents state that Hawkins shared that his wife has dementia and physical disabilities that require him to constantly care for her, including helping her with getting dressed, using the bathroom and bathing.

Hawkins returned to Baltimore from Jamaica on July 6 with his wife and son. A warrant for his arrest was issued on Sept. 22.

He is being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center, and has not yet had an attorney assigned. There is a hearing scheduled for Oct. 24.

Correction: This article was updated to correct the date that Mark Hawkins returned to Baltimore from Jamaica.