Police reply to the scene of an explosion in Arlington, Virginia on Monday night time.

Celal Gunes/Anadolu by way of Getty Images

cover caption

toggle caption

Celal Gunes/Anadolu by way of Getty Images

Police reply to the scene of an explosion in Arlington, Virginia on Monday night time.

Celal Gunes/Anadolu by way of Getty Images

An enormous explosion leveled a house and rocked a neighborhood in Arlington, Va., on Monday night time as police tried to analyze a person who shot a flare gun from his residence, officers stated.

No severe accidents had been reported, however the destiny of the suspect, who was believed to be inside the home on the time of the explosion, remains to be unclear.

Video posted to social media confirmed the home disappearing below a ball of fireplace, lobbing particles into the night time air and sending wreckage raining down onto the suburb of Washington, D.C. Neighbors stated the blast may very well be heard and felt for miles.

Here’s an summary of what we all know.

What occurred within the moments main as much as the explosion?

Arlington County police stated in a press release that they had been first known as to the 800 block of N. Burlington Street round 4:45 p.m. ET after receiving a report of attainable gunshots.

The neighborhood, often called Bluemont, is in a leafy suburb of Washington D.C., full of brick duplexes, condos and single-family residences.

During a preliminary investigation, police discovered that the suspect had fired a flare gun 30 to 40 occasions from inside his residence, a duplex, into the encircling neighborhood.

Officers obtained a search warrant for the home and stated they tried to make contact with the suspect by means of loudspeakers and over the cellphone, however he did not initially reply.

As officers tried to execute the warrant, they heard a number of rounds of what they believed to be a firearm coming from inside the house. The explosion got here shortly after, round 8:25 p.m.

Police stated the precise circumstances of the explosion are nonetheless below investigation. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives stated federal fire agents are assisting the investigation.

Was anybody injured?

A house is seen exploding from a distance Monday night time in Arlington, Va.

AP

cover caption

toggle caption

AP

A house is seen exploding from a distance Monday night time in Arlington, Va.

AP

Three officers reported minor accidents, however none had been transported to the hospital. It’s unclear what occurred to the suspect, who was inside the house when it was leveled. Police have but to launch the suspect’s title or id.

Police do not have proof that others had been within the duplex on the time of the explosion however have not dominated that out as a chance, a police spokesperson told the Associated Press.

What did neighbors see and listen to?

Residents might hear and really feel the explosion for miles round Arlington County, the place the average population is over 9,000 people per square mile.

Allison Van Lare stated she felt the explosion almost 3 miles away, in her neighborhood of Shirlington.

“I heard something like air popping, and then the fence started rattling intensely, almost like a sonic boom,” she advised NPR.

One native man thought a tree had fallen on his home.

“I was sitting in my living room watching television and the whole house shook,” Bob Maynes advised the Associated Press. “It wasn’t an earthquake kind of tremor, but the whole house shook.”

The explosion additionally attracted the eye of high Virginia officers stationed as distant as Richmond.

Virginia Rep. Don Beyer thanked first responders and stated he was monitoring the “very, very scary” circumstances.

A fireplace that raged within the explosion’s aftermath was deemed below management as of 10:30 p.m., however crews continued to extinguish smaller spot fires all through the night, in accordance with the Arlington County Fire Department.

More than 160 power outages had been initially reported within the space, however that quantity had decreased to 19 as of Tuesday morning.

This is a creating story. Check again for updates.