1 dead, 2 hurt in Richland County house explosion

CRESTLINE , Ohio (WJW) — A house explosion on Friday afternoon in Richland County killed one person and injured two others, investigators said.

It happened in the 4000 block of Hook Road in Springfield Township , which is near the state Route 314 intersection.

The blast reduced the house to a large field of debris. The explosion was reported at 1:17 p.m.

After firefighters arrived, they discovered that the one victim, identified as 47-year-old Krista Cramer of Lexington, had died in the blast. She was found in the basement.

One of the surviving victims, a man who was also found in the basement, was flown to a medical center in Columbus . A fire chief told FOX 8 News the man had a chair over his head when the blast occurred, and it shielded him from the falling debris as well as the flames.

“It was probably just the grace of God that was with him and protected him that allowed him to survive this horrific incident,” said Chief Adam Spellman with the Springfield Township Fire Department.

The other, a woman who was outside the home, was transported to a hospital in Mansfield . She and her husband owned the house and she happened to be outside walking their dog when the explosion ignited.

Neighbors told FOX 8 the people who were inside at the time are contractors. They were at the home on Friday checking a problem that the homeowners were having with their basement.

According to neighbors, the owners recently complained about a foul smell in the basement.

Investigators from Richland County and the State Fire Marshal’s Office were at the scene Friday afternoon, digging through the rubble, trying to determine the cause of the explosion.

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