It was around 2 a.m. when Rija Ikharia was jolted awake by the sound of a loud bang and an orange flash. She looked out her bathroom window to see her neighbor’s house engulfed in flames.
In a panic, Ikharia woke her family and ran downstairs. The teen helped wheel her grandmother out of the basement and called 911 while her family rushed outside.
Together, they stood across the street for hours, watching as firefighters battled the raging inferno at the house next door that shares part of their lawn.
“It was scary. I couldn’t imagine anything like this ever happening,” Ikharia said.
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She’s referring to the explosion on Callo Lane in Rosedale, a neighborhood in East Baltimore, in the early hours of July 1.
The cause of the blaze remains unknown, according to Baltimore County Fire Department spokesperson Travis Francis, who said the County Police fire investigation team is working with fire officials to determine what sparked the explosion.
“We were worried if the neighbors were inside. We wondered if we were witnessing a murder,” said Ikharia.
Later, Ikharia’s father said he remembered that he was asked by the residents of the home to look out for packages that arrived while they went on vacation.
Where there once stood a quaint rancher-style home is now a large pile of charred wood, brick, curtains, pieces of walls, and destroyed furniture.
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The only thing still standing upright is a portion of the steps to the backyard porch.
To Ikharia, the fire was remarkably contained. The homes on Callo Lane are situated close together, their sides not more than 100 feet apart. Each lawn is well-kept and connected by sidewalks.
Even days later, the smell of char and ash remained, made more pungent by the rain. Ikharia said the smell sticks to her clothes.
Russ Mirabile, the president of the Rosedale Community Association, said that everyone is on edge.
“It’s an eerie thing that’s happened, and everyone is concerned about what has actually happened,” Mirabile said.
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The closer a neighbor lives to the site of the explosion, the more fear they’re experiencing, Mirabile said. It’s the uncertainty around the cause of the fire that leaves neighbors worried.
“Are we going to blow up next?” said a father who lives across the street from the house that exploded.
His 8-year-old daughter was on the couch in his living room when, through their bay window, she witnessed the explosion.
“It sounded like a bomb. It shook my bed and knocked pictures off of the wall,” the neighbor said. His frightened daughter has been sleeping at her grandmother’s house ever since, and hasn’t returned to their home.
The neighbor said that a representative from Baltimore Gas and Electric Company came to inspect his home one day while he was at work.
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“They say you’re good, but they don’t tell you anything else,” he said. He pointed to the ruined house across the street. “They should’ve tested his house.”
The former home on Callo Lane is now fenced off. Fliers on the fencing inform passersby that the cause of the fire is being investigated by the Fire Point Group, a Maryland-based private fire and arson investigation service.
Fire Point officials and the homeowners could not be reached for comment.
Francis confirmed that first responders conducted inspections of the surrounding area of the home explosion for any risks to the neighborhood.
BGE spokesperson Richard Yost said the company’s equipment was inspected, tested and found to be operating safely and was not the cause of the explosion.
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Robert Rex, a technician for BGE, confirmed that it is their practice to send technicians to the scene of a house explosion to check for potential leaks of BGE infrastructure, which does not include pipes that are part of a homeowner’s personal property.
Technicians use a handheld device that detects the presence of natural gas in the air.
“We never would have left the area if we believed there was a risk to the community in any way,” Francis said. “In the days after first responders leave, if anyone has questions, we encourage them to call.”
Rex said that if there was an apparent risk to the community as a result of a gas leak, they would be taking steps to fix the situation as soon as possible.
However, the county fire and police departments still have not determined the cause of the fire. Francis said doing so could take weeks, even months.
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“When an explosion happens, everything is destroyed. It makes it more difficult to locate the cause of the fire,“ said Francis.
Baltimore County has seen fewer than five house explosions in the past decade. The main causes of house explosions are gas leaks, resulting from faulty lines, improper installations or malfunctions, and arson.
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