UPDATED: SAN JACINTO: Explosion at home under investigation
E. Washington Avenue quickly filled with emergency first responders after the explosion was reported. Ysidro Rodriguez photo
Several engine companies responded to the residence where the explosion was reported. Tiffany Epton/Epicenter News photo
SAN JACINTO – Reports of an explosion at a residence in San Jacinto brought firefighters and law enforcement officers rushing to the home Saturday, Nov. 26. The residence where the explosion happened is in the 1000 block of E. Washington Avenue in San Jacinto. The house is near E. Beringer Drive.
The first of several 911 calls were received by emergency dispatchers just before 6 p.m., after callers reported hearing one or more explosions at the residence. At least one nearby resident advised the occupants of the home were not at the residence when the explosion happened.
A Riverside County Sheriff’s K9 deputy from the San Jacinto Police Station, who was in the area when the explosion was reported, arrived within moments of the dispatched call.
When the deputy arrived, he reported flames and smoke billowing from the rear of the residence. He immediately called for additional resources to the area as he began to search for access into the home to check for possible victims.
Deputies have cordoned off the scene of the explosion as a crime scene while they investigate the cause. Miguel Shannon/Epicenter News photo
Cal Fire/Riverside County firefighters and other deputies began arriving within minutes.
Responding deputies called for the closure of E. Washington Avenue to ensure the safety of emergency personnel who were arriving in the area to extinguish the fire.
According to a fire official at the scene, the explosion and fire began in the kitchen of the residence. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation and the area around the residence has been cordoned off as an active crime scene.
According to an official at the scene of the explosion and fire, additional specialized law enforcement personnel and fire investigators have been summoned to the scene to continue an investigation into the cause of the explosion.
Deputies re-opened E. Washington Avenue to through-traffic about 7 p.m.; however, law enforcement and fire personnel remained at the scene at the time of this initial report.
(Video, interviews, and additional photographs from the scene will be uploaded shortly.)
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Eddie George/Hemet News video
This is a developing story. Additional information will be updated as it becomes available.
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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.