COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. — Indiana State Police is investigating a building explosion in Columbia City that left one person dead Saturday morning.
According to ISP, multiple police agencies went to a warehouse, located at 515 North Line St. in Columbia City near Dollar General, that had exploded around 9 a.m.
First responders arrived to find the warehouse fully engulfed in flames. The explosion caused a power outage throughout the area and impacted a number of traffic signals, according to the Whitley County Sheriff's Department.
There were reportedly three adults in or around the building at the time of the initial explosion. Two of those adults were able to escape the building, only suffering minor injuries.
ISP said one man remained trapped inside and was unable to be rescued due to the size and nature of the fire. The Whitley County coroner identified the deceased as Zachery Sparkman, 34, or LaOtto, Indiana.
The fire was extinguished around 2:30 p.m. At this point, police and fire investigators were able to go into the building, where they located and recovered the body of the man who died while trapped inside.
There was significant damage to several adjacent business and residential structures to the south and west of the warehouse.
Fire investigators believe the explosion and subsequent structure first was related to a natural gas leak. However, the State Fire Marshal's Office will be handling the fire portion of the investigation, which will officially determine the cause and manner.
ISP is working with local agencies to conduct the death investigation.
Just before 4 p.m., police and fire crews were still in the area, and a portion of the 500 block of Line Street was shut down to local traffic. ISP said the shutdown will continue for several hours.
On June 22, the Indiana State Fire Marshal's Office released the following statement:
“We completed the scene examination in Columbia City. We examined all of the natural gas lines in the building and tested them. Several of the connections were found with minor leaks in them, probably from the explosion and fire. A gas valve located along the back wall was examined and revealed the most significant leak in the building. This valve was near the victim’s location. The victim was a known smoker.
No evidence was found indicating a manual intentional manipulation of the building's natural gas system occurred prior to the explosion. All of the evidence gathered indicates the explosion was caused by an unintentional natural gas leak ignited by an independent ignition source.”
