Dog found alive in rubble nearly a week after Virginia home exploded

Six days after a powerful explosion leveled a home in Haymarket, Virginia, a dog was found alive in the rubble, fire officials say.

Two couples and their young children who lived in the home on Coby Hunt Court managed to escape the house unharmed before the explosion reduced their home to an unrecognizable pile of debris the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 15. They thought their three pets likely died in the blast, which shook the neighborhood.

“Nothing’s going to bring them back unless somehow they made it out alive, which I hope they did, but who knows where they are,” said Jarrett Struniak, who lived in the home with his fiancee and 3-year-old daughter.

On Monday morning, firefighters found one of the animals — a brindle pitbull named Brandy — alive.

“The explosion was six days ago, so we were kind of shocked to hear that there was a dog possibly there still,” said Gavin Morrison with Prince William County Fire and Rescue.

“Usually when we do make pet rescues and people rescues, it’s at the time of the incident, said Lt. Mark Waldrop with Prince William County Fire and Rescue. “To go back six days later and get the dog out was a great feeling.”

Prince William County Fire and Rescue said they went back to the home after someone called Monday and said they could hear a dog barking from underneath the rubble. Crews freed the dog and fire officials said she would be reunited with her family.

"She appeared to be in good shape and showed her happiness of being freed by rapid tail wagging," Assistant Chief Matt Smolsky said in a statement.

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Waldrop says the actual rescue was pretty straightforward. Thankfully, they could see and hear Brandy, so once they stabilized the structure, they just had to coax her out.

Understandably, she was a little shaken up, but they quickly figured out a way to win her over.

“Dog treats and some ham turns out it ended up being the best,” said Andrew Silvernale with Prince William County Fire and Rescue. “We were able to get the dog to trust us a little bit. The owner was there.”

Brandy was taken to the vet, but officials say it looks like she will be okay.

“Just happy for the family,” Silvernale said. “After going through something like this, to be able to give them something to look forward to, something to hold on to, it means a lot to us as well.”

Firefighters say that the rescue took about 30 minutes.

“It was really nice,” said Carl Nunziata with Prince William County Fire and Rescue. “Animals are members of our family.”

“Makes you feel good about your job when you do stuff like this,” Waldrop said.

Contractor ruptured gas line before explosion

Fire investigators said on Wednesday a private contractor who was working on replacing the water line to the home hit and ruptured a gas line.

Firefighters came shortly after 4 p.m. and evacuated the home, along with the neighboring houses. Washington Gas arrived to the home about an hour later to make repairs, but the home exploded a short time after, fire officials said.

“I mean, honestly, you can see everything go away in an instant and you realize you have nothing,” Struniak said. “It’s frustrating and demoralizing.”

Struniak said he was relieved his loved ones were OK. 

“You can't really do anything about it. You can be angry, but what’s that going to do? You’re being angry at the wind,” he said. “The silver lining is that nobody was hurt. Not a firefighter, not a city worker, not a single person in the cul de sac was hurt, and that’s really great in itself.”

Crews spent much of the day Wednesday sifting through the wreckage.

The blast rattled neighbors, some of whom were standing outside at the time.

"I'm standing there and my back's to it. It's just this boom!," neighbor Rob Karas said. "Last night my whole back hurt and I was in pain. And it blew out my garage and then there was some debris."

"I just heard a loud boom and I screamed because I got really scared," neighbor Mouna Karas said.

Struniak said the work at the home was supposed to be a routine repair. When workers hit the gas line, he said he had no idea there would be an explosion. 

“You could smell gas and they were addressing it, you know, nothing, it wasn't shut down,” Angie Rick, another neighbor, said Tuesday.

Investigators are still working to learn what ignited the explosion.