7/24/18 - Leslie house explosion, 1090 Vaughn Rd

At 11:04 AM on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, the Leslie, Dansville, and Onondaga fire departments were dispatched on automatic aid to a report of a house explosion and fire at 1090 Vaughn Rd in Leslie Township. Lansing-Mason Ambulance and the Ingham County Sheriff Rescue air unit were also sent. Dispatch information advised there was an explosion and fire in the basement and a victim with serious burns. Command units responding reported heavy smoke from a distance and additional mutual aid was requested for tankers and manpower from the Mason and Stockbridge (SAESA) fire departments. On arrival, a one story ranch with a walkout basement was fully engulfed in flames with heavy structural damage on the C-side from the explosion. Mason Engine 809 was first to arrive and deployed their deck gun to stop the spread of the fire to the garage, the only part of the house not yet involved. As hoselines were stretched and tankers arrived for water supply, firefighters went after the main body of fire as well. Lansing-Mason Ambulance was one of the first to arrive on scene and immediately treated and transported two patients, one with serious burns. Additional mutual aid was requested for manpower from the Delhi Township, Meridian Township, and Williamston (NIESA) fire departments. Once the fire was knocked down, firefighters had to make the structure safe from further collapse for overhaul and final extinguishment to occur. A backhoe was requested in order to pull remaining parts of the structure back from falling inward so that investigators could get to the seat of the fire to determine the cause. No firefighters were injured during this incident, which lasted for several hours before everyone cleared.