PARIS — A toddler died early Thursday in an explosion and fire that damaged a home in the south part of the city and left the child’s family homeless.
The explosion and fire were caused by a gas leak, according to American Red Cross disaster service specialist Tracy McMillen, who spoke with the boy’s family. She would not identify the family.
A family member, Virginia Tanner, said only that a child had died but wouldn’t comment further, asking for privacy so the family could grieve.
The boy was a twin and was 2 or 3 years old, McMillen said. The rest of the family — the boy’s mother, her three children and a live-in boyfriend — went to stay Thursday with family members who live about a block away. McMillen said the boy’s family was renting the house where the explosion occurred.
The Red Cross gave the family a debit card to use for food, lodging and supplies, McMillen said, and counselors from the Red Cross would be available.
Paris Police Chief John O’Brien said he asked the Arkansas State Police to investigate. He didn’t respond to questions about the incident and referred all inquiries to the state police.
A news release from the state police said the Paris Police Department responded to a call of a loud noise on South Elm Street. When officers arrived, they found a home in the 1200 block of South Elm Street on fire.
The boy’s family said the explosion and fire occurred at the rear of the house, Mc-Millen said. The explosion apparently caused the roof over the front porch to collapse. The damage to the back of the house was not evident from South Elm Street.
Several windows in the house were covered with black plastic, but a neighbor said the coverings were on the windows before the explosion.
“It just wrecked my nerves something terrible,” neighbor Lois Hutchins said of hearing the blast.
She said she was awake about 2:30 a.m. and sitting in the front room of her home two doors down and across South Elm Street when she heard “a racket.” At first, she thought the loud noise was a car accident.
She looked out across the street, saw the porch roof on the ground at the house where the explosion occurred and thought that was odd.
Hutchins didn’t see fire spreading from the house, she said, but could see flickering inside from a window at the back of the house.
Soon the Fire Department, police and emergency medical services arrived on the scene, Hutchins said.
A Paris police officer and a home occupant entered the house and carried out four children, the state police news release said. One child was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The other three children were not injured.
The property was guarded until about 12:30 p.m., when Arkansas State Police investigators arrived and began their investigation. The investigation was ongoing Thursday, the agency said.