Officials: 2 suffer serious burns in West Milford house explosion; cause remains unknown

The fire marshal says that he could have an answer as to what caused the explosion by mid-week.

Chris Keating

Sep 25, 2023, 4:50 PM

Updated 442 days ago

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Investigators are still trying to determine why a home in rural West Milford exploded last week. That incident took place on Friday night around 9 p.m. on Banker Road.
The fire marshal says that he could have an answer as to what caused the explosion by mid-week.
News 12 has learned that in spite of the destruction, there were no fatalities. There were six people inside the house at the time of the explosion and five were rushed away to nearby hospitals for treatment. One of those pulled out was trapped in about 10 feet of debris. A sixth person was not injured.
A GoFundMe campaign has identified the owner of the house as Sang Pham. It states that he was inside with his wife Lily, his father and three friends. Their two children were not in the home.
Two of those inside the house suffered serious burns.
Neighbors have said that the family had only recently moved into the house and that they were conducting renovations.
The house is fueled by propane. But it is not yet clear if the propane had anything to do with the explosion.
The Pham family owns a business in town called Elegant Nails. No one at the business was willing to speak to News 12 to comment on the situation.