Man dies in home explosion, fire

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - A man is dead following a massive explosion that rocked his entire neighborhood in West Pensacola.

Police say the circumstances of the explosion that occurred at 2 a.m. are suspicious.

Felt like Vietnam

“The whole neighborhood shook. It was the biggest explosion I’ve heard since I left Vietnam.”

That’s how Todd Kline described the explosion of his neighbor’s home on Brookstone Avenue.

The house is in ruins. Every window is blown out, the walls have buckled, the garage door was torn from its hinges and shards of glass sprayed through the air, some even ended up on roofs.

“We felt the ground shake… I mean we felt it and heard it,” neighbor Ken Loubriel said.

Emergency workers quickly put out the flames and shut off the gas to the home. The man who lived in the home was found dead inside.

Neighbors: man was troubled

As dramatic as the scene was, neighbors weren’t surprised at who’s home it was that exploded.

“He’s had all kinds of problems in the past,” Kline said.

The man’s name is being withheld pending an autopsy and notification of his family.

“He was somewhat of a recluse. He would do his own thing. Some of our neighbors would wave, he’d never wave back,” Loubriel told us.

Sheriff’s investigators have been asked to assist in the investigation “due to suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.”

Explosion hurt no one else

Just next door is another house. Inside is a family with a newborn baby.

Neighbors are thankful the explosion occurred when folks were asleep and not out in their yards.

“If somebody had been walking out here they’d be dead,” Kline said.

“I would have been cut. There was glass flying through this air. I’ve never seen so much glass,” Loubriel said.

Now, neighbors are left with a mess to clean up and the questions surrounding how this happened.