WAXAHACHIE, Texas — The Ellis County Fire Marshal's Office is investigating a rural home explosion that occurred early Friday morning on Ike Rd.
According to Ellis County Emergency Management Coordinator Michaela Sandefer, the explosion occurred at about 2 a.m. The Waxahachie Fire Department (WFD) also responded to provide mutual aid to a county fire crew from Emergency Services District No. 6.
According to WFD, a Waxahachie fire captain, Billy Vest, who lives nearby, showed up and helped pull an elderly man and his wife out of the home, which was reduced to its foundation. Vest treated the pair with others at the scene until emergency crews could arrive.
The couple was transported to Parkland Hospital in Dallas with significant burns but are expected to survive, officials said. A GoFundMe account shared with WFAA by a family friend identified the victims as Danny and Debbie Holveck.
"Our prayers are with the family; we're looking to assist them after they're released from the hospital," Ellis County Judge Todd Little said late Friday.
Little added that the Fire Marshal's office reported to him that preliminary investigative information suggested that a propane device inside the house caused the explosion.
Vest, who has been with the Waxahachie Fire Department for 19 years, said that an explosion like no other woke him like an alarm clock.
"It was a feeling that I had never felt," Vest told WFAA. I just got up and ran outside to see what happened. I didn't know if a plane crashed or what, but I could see a glow down the road. I got in my truck and came here with my son, and this is what we found. Insulation was still falling from the sky."
"The husband was under the house a little bit. We got him out and into the street and triaged him a little bit with no medical equipment. I did the same with the wife and started calling for help. You could tell it was a huge explosion, and two people walked away from it. It's just a miracle—right place, right time—for me, anyway."
The family friend sifting through the debris told WFAA that the couple is alive but has a long road to recovery. She thanked Vest when he showed up on the scene to do an interview.
"We all look out for each other," Vest said. "I hope anybody in the neighborhood will come and do the same for me."