7:36PM EST November 13. 2012 - INDIANAPOLIS -- The woman whose home exploded in Indianapolis on Saturday night, killing two people and damaging dozens of other houses, has no plans to see the damage left behind.
Monseratte Shirley, 47, told The Indianapolis Star on Tuesday that she hasn't gone back to see the damage.
"I don't want to see it," she said. "My neighbor said, 'You do not have a house. Everything is gone. You don't need to come here. You don't have a house.' "
Shirley, who has denied numerous previous requests for interviews, said she has been hounded by reporters since the day she learned her house in the Richmond Hill subdivision might be the source of the devastating explosion.
On Tuesday, utility officials in Indiana said they are looking at gas appliances inside the homes as a possible source of the explosion.
"Our investigators believe natural gas is involved," Indianapolis' Department of Homeland Security chief Gary Coons said in a statement. "They are currently in the process of recovering the appliances from destroyed homes to help determine the cause."
Citizens Energy Group spokeswoman Sarah Holsapple announced Tuesday evening that tests found no evidence of natural gas leaks from the utility's underground facilities in the Richmond Hill subdivision.
Earlier Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board said they haven't found any evidence of a gas-line leak outside the home that would have warranted them staying longer at the scene of the blast. The federal agency investigates the nation's fuel-supply line.
The blast and subsequent fires damaged nearly 80 homes, demolishing five. Shirley's next door neighbors, John "Dion" Longworth, 34, and his wife, Jennifer, 36, died in the blast, which occurred while Shirley and her boyfriend were out of town.
"I'm in shock like everybody else," Shirley said. "I'm distressed by the whole situation. I don't know what happened. I'm very, very concerned about everybody else. I mean, I don't know what to say."
Shirley's ex-husband, John Shirley, on Monday said he suspected a faulty furnace caused the blast, which officials said may have resulted from natural gas.
"I don't know why he made that comment," Monseratte Shirley said Tuesday. She said they had been separated for two years and she knew of no gas problems in the home.
Shirley said she's both grateful that she and her daughter weren't home when the blast occurred, and sad for what happened to others.
"It's horrible what happened, you know?" she said. "It's not just me. It's everybody. If I was in the house, I would be dead today."
She said she and her boyfriend left Friday night to visit the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and had planned to be away until Sunday. Her 12-year-old daughter was staying with a friend and she had boarded her cat, something she said she always does when she goes away.
Shirley said she has spoken with fire investigators and has no idea what caused the explosion.
She said she has consulted an attorney, who agreed to set up a video interview with The Star.
The stress from losing everything she owned and knowing the blast caused so much damage has forced her to take medication, and she doesn't sleep, she said.
"I'm glad I'm alive and that my daughter's alive," she said.
Shirley said she did not know the Longworths well, but they frequently said hello to each other. "But, you know, they were my neighbors. It's horrible what happened. You know. It's not just me. It's everybody."
Shirley said that she did not believe anyone intentionally caused the blast and that she did not feel threatened by anyone.
"I'm just sad, and I mean it's horrible for everybody in my neighborhood, all the suffering. Everybody has been good neighbors."
Source: http://www.news.theusalinks.com/2012/11/13/homeowner-at-center-of-ind-explosion-in-shock/
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