Officials identify deceased in Granville explosion

Granville, Vt. (WCAX) – Two people are dead, and three others injured after a house explosion overnight, according to Vermont State Police.

Officials identified the deceased as Liam O’Sullivan, 20, and his mother, Sarah O’Sullivan, 46, both of Essex Junction.

First responders received a call around 7:45 p.m. Saturday. They said the explosion happened while one of the two people who died was celebrating a birthday.

State police said the man was pronounced dead at the scene. The woman was rushed to Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, where she later died.

Three other adults were taken to the hospital. Two had minor injuries, and one had critical injuries.

The department of Public Safety Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit classified the explosion as accidental. Investigators determined the explosion was caused by a propane leak within the home.

Brenda Buker, of Granville, was having dinner with friends when they heard and felt the explosion.

“We heard a loud boom and stopped mid sentence, didn’t know what had happened,” Buker said. “It was really loud. It shook the house. My husband was in the kitchen and things fell off the walls and he came out and said ‘what was that?’”

Buker and her husband live down the hill from the property where the explosion occurred. She said she did not know the victims.

“It’s really rural, you know, you don’t even see your neighbors houses right here, so Granville very rarely hits the news, so this was unusual,” Buker said.

Buker said she heard fireworks coming from that direction earlier in the night, so when she heard the boom, she was not sure what to think.

“But we really thought it was related to the fireworks, had no idea that it had been a house explosion, and we didn’t find that out until the morning unfortunately,” Buker said.

Other neighbors reported property damage, with one saying the impact shattered some windows. Buker’s property did not sustain any damage.

“But it was of an impact that you knew something had, that it was a really serious explosion and I could smell something in the air as well about five minutes after it had happened,” Buker said.

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