The Explosion By Our House
01-13-2005, 9:40 p.m.

This is what happened less than half a block from my house last night.

It was pretty scary. We heard the explosion and jumped so high that I thought they were going to have to pry me from the ceiling. Shadow was laying on me when it happened, and we did not see her for hours afterward, she was pretty scared too. We found out that it was a gas explosion at the mall (you can see it from our windows) that caused a crater 25 feet deep and 100 feet wide, and it swallowed up several cars. It was such an eery site. It was pouring out, and lightening and thundering, but that did not stop us from standing at the corner watching everything that was going on (well once I talked to my brother, who is a police officer, to make sure it was safe). It looked like a war zone, something that the police were saying themselves. I know that I've never seen anything like it in my life. I hope never to again. There were at least 100 police cars and fire trucks and ambulances all with their lights blaring.... so many news trucks, and helicopters filled the skies. I can't even explain how it felt to be standing there watching this all unfold. I tried to make jokes out of it... but deep down it was really scary. Our first thought when we heard the explosion was that a plane crashed, a common thought when you hear an explosion and live 3 miles from an airport. I am glad that it wasn't that.

10 people were injured. It is a miracle that it was not more. It happened as the mall was closing, but on a weeknight and after the holiday season was over. It happened in the parking lot, part of the lot that isn't used as often because it is near a store that closed 2 years ago and that the space hasn't been sold yet. It was a miracle that all these things came together and that only 10 people were injured. They say that 30 plus cars were totalled, but cars can be replaced.

June called tonight and left several messages... she was frantic.. she saw the pictures on the news, and recognized the fact that it was so close to the house. She thought because were not home that something happened to us, and wouldn't believe Sherry and Chuck until she talked to us. Awww, poor thing. She was so glad that we were okay though and can't wait to see for herself tomorrow. She is amazed that the spot that it happened is just about the spot that she, Maddy, Rachel and Nicole played on a huge pile of snow on Saturday. We walked to the mall for that purpose... to play king of the mountain on the snow. So many scary thoughts come to mind... that is where we park when we do not walk to the mall, and that is where we walk to when we do. Just 20 minutes earlier I said to Tonya, let's run to Carson's and look at shoes, but then didn't want to go out in the rain so said forget it. Just 2 hour earlier we were shopping at Kohl's in the mall... I have read so many reports today of people who were just pulling away from the mall or who had just gotten out of their cars and were walking into the mall, only to be covered with glass and debris, but thankfully were a minute sooner or later than the blast. I guess it just gets you thinking somehow. I am so glad that everyone is alright.

They still have the mall closed, and tons of police and workers there.. It's eerie seeing it all lit up, the parking lots, but the stores pitch dark. We were going to go to this restaurant tonight for my birthday. You can see it in the top picture. It was closed tonight, the roof caved in and the windows all shattered. We obviously had to go elsewhere tonight. I wonder how safe we all are though if gas pipes can just explode like that. What if it were a few hundred feet over... could have been someone's house... perhaps a neighbors... perhaps our own. Scary scary thoughts. I guess that you just can't think about things like that or you will go nuts.