A massive house explosion was caught on video Monday night after there were reports of a man firing a flare gun inside the residence. The blast sent portions of the home flying into the air, set off car alarms throughout the neighborhood, and shook the streets. You can hear witnesses near the person taking the video uttering stunned expletives as the fiery debris rains down.
Watch:
Officers were already on the scene when the explosion occurred and had made a social media post warning of a disturbance in the neighborhood:
A house in Arlington, Virginia, exploded Monday night only minutes after police posted on social media about a suspect setting off a flare gun inside a home.
In a post on X just after 8:15 p.m., the Arlington County Police Department said officers were on the scene in the 800 block of North Burlington Street investigating a suspect who had discharged a flare gun from his home.
It is unclear if anyone was injured in the blast. Police had been talking to the suspect in the house and were trying to get him to come out:
A listener confirmed to WTOP that she lives in the area and saw police and other armed officials surround the suspect’s house, trying to coax him out.
And they’re talking to him. And then next thing you know, the house blows up. It’s a duplex and it’s collapsed the entire side and I don’t know about the other side of the duplex. I’m just hoping that people next door got out. And they’re (officials) now chasing us off the street with all the fire trucks and everything because we have [natural] gas in the neighborhood, she said.
Expect a large police and fire response:
Arlington Fire & EMS posted on X that their units were on the scene of a structure fire at the same address, and to expect a large police and fire response.
Here’s a close-up view of the devastation:
RedState will keep you updated as circumstances warrant.