65 year old Betty Bailey and her husband Ralston wanted to prepare for the freezing temperatures Tuesday night...so for the first time this year, they turned on their propane heater.
[0]
"About 11:00 last night, they were literally blown out of bed and thought that it was a horrible earthquake," says the couples daughter, Temple Gentry. The blast on Quarry Road leveled the Bailey's two businesses- a hair salon that had been open for 35 years- and an antique shop right next door. The couples home also was damaged. The Fire Department believes that the Bailey's propane tank had a leak which filled the beauty shop up with gas. When the hot water heater kicked on it set off a spark- which then set off the explosion. The earth-shaking boom woke up neighbors from miles away. Some called the Polk County Sheriff's Department to report the noise. "I was just dozing off when I felt the trailer shake...like something bumped into the trailer," he says. "It's amazing that it could do that and nobody get hurt really ...it had to be a good blowing. They said they heard it ten miles," says a friend of the family Franky Enriques.
[0]"All the antiques are gone, mom's beauty shop is gone. I just thank god Mom and Dad are okay," Gentry says.
[0]Albert Kemp lives 3 miles away.
[0]Temple Gentry says her mother and father are devastated and confused ---as to how their entire life's work could be wiped out in such a violent accident.
[1]