<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4gXNd4_1Gn5hrpx00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4gXNd4_1Gn5hrpx00" width="1600" height="988" ><figcaption>An explosion and fire destroys a home on Ocotillo Avenue north of Twentynine Palms Highway Friday night, Aug. 21. Ben Scarborough Special to The Desert Trail</figcaption></figure>TWENTYNINE PALMS — No cause has been determined for an explosion and fire that killed Sierra Doherty Gillin, 46, of Twentynine Palms, and destroyed a home in the 6400 block of Ocotillo Avenue Friday night, Aug. 21.“It was possibly due to a gas leak, however the official cause is undetermined,” San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Jenny Smith said last week.“The investigation is continuing.”Two men, Twentynine Palms residents ages 72 and 41, were hurt in the explosion.One of the men was flown by helicopter to the burn center at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. The other suffered moderate injuries and was taken to a local hospital, according to the San Bernardino County fire department.A dog was also rescued from the house.Neighbors reported smelling gas before the explosion.Aaron Ortiz, a spokesperson for Southern California Gas, told The Desert Trail the utility investigated after the explosion.“SoCalGas crews responded to the scene to assess our infrastructure and determined that its natural gas facilities were operating safely,” Ortiz said via email.“Earlier that day, SoCalGas responded to a report of an odor in the area. After investigation, crews determined the odor was coming from an open septic tank.”Explosion heard around 29 PalmsThe sound of the explosion rocked the neighborhoods around the affected house around 8:30 p.m. Aug. 21.Ten hospital corpsmen and several Marines who had been gathered nearby for dinner at Kitchen in the Desert rushed to the scene, helping pull one of the injured men from the burning, collapsing home. They evacuated neighboring residences and provide medical care until civilian emergency responders arrived.Hospitalman Mykrussel Dominguez Gonzales saw someone inside the home waving for help.Through the smoke and debris, he could see one injured man attempting to pull another man from the burning structure.Gonzalez and Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Aiden Keith entered the burning structure to assist.“Recognizing the immediate danger, we immediately entered the house to provide assistance,” Gonzales later told a Naval hospital public information officer. “The roof had already partially collapsed and the flames were spreading.”With debris surrounding the second victim and the fire continuing to burn, Gonzales lifted the man’s upper body by his arms while Keith, another corpsman and a Marine helped pull him by his legs and away from the wreckage.The group then moved both injured men away from the burning structure and immediate danger.Additional service members joined the response, assisting with the casualties and evacuations.Firefighters from the Twentynine Palms station arrived within a few minutes of the initial call, Battalion Chief Eric Sherwin said.They found the house fully involved with flames, and requested an air ambulance and a ground ambulance.Firefighters from Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley, Yucca Mesa and the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center helped put the fire down in 30 minutes.</div></body>

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TWENTYNINE PALMS — No cause has been determined for an explosion and fire that killed Sierra Doherty Gillin, 46, of Twentynine Palms, and destroyed a home in the 6400 block of Ocotillo Avenue Friday night, Aug. 21. “It was possibly due to a gas leak, however the official cause...

No cause found for deadly house explosion

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TWENTYNINE PALMS — No cause has been determined for an explosion and fire that killed Sierra Doherty Gillin, 46, of Twentynine Palms, and destroyed a home 

No cause found for deadly house explosion

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