According to a report from Daily Record, dramatic bodycam footage taken from three Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, police officers showed a violent gas explosion at a home in the town during the early-morning hours on January 14. Pompton Lakes borough fire official John Keating said they were extremely lucky none of the six firefighters inside the Ramapo Avenue home were killed.
The footage, obtained through an Open Public Records Act request, shows a large fireball shooting from the back of the home.
Six Pompton Lakes Volunteer Fire Department (PLVFD) members were inside the home at around 2:19 a.m. for about one minute checking a potential gas leak when it exploded at the four-second mark of the footage. None of the PLVFD firefighters suffered life-threatening injuries, although two were hospitalized for burns and later released.
On arrival, PLVFD crews sent a three-person team into the basement, where they believed the fire was. A second team of two members followed, along with the assistant chief.
The officers were standing by on Riverdale Road when the explosion occurred. Smoke is seen emanating from the home. At the time of the explosion, one firefighter can be seen standing on the back porch.
Right after the explosion, an officer is heard telling responding emergency medical technicians to approach the house “from the back.” On another of the officers’ body cams, two firefighters are shown walking another from the home after the explosion. Someone is then heard over a radio, “I need medics here.”
Keating and Pompton Lakes Police Chief Derek Clark did not respond to questions on the cause of the explosion.
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