An explosion late Tuesday obliterated a Sussex County home, damaged nearby Wallkill Valley Regional High School and could be felt by residents for miles, authorities said.
The Hardyston home was a total loss, but no one was home at the time and no injuries were reported as a result of the blast, authorities said.
The explosion and a fire occurred shortly after 11 p.m. on Grumm Road, across the street from Wallkill Valley Regional, according to the Hardyston Volunteer Fire Department.
Wallkill High School will be closed Wednesday as a result of the damage.
The blast could be heard for miles and shook surrounding towns.
“(The) noise was like something falling out if the sky. Our house shook,” Betsy Knicos Fallon wrote on Facebook.
The Jefferson Chronicle reported the explosion could be felt from Sussex County to Totowa in Passaic County. The publication cited two 100-pound propane tanks that were leaking as the cause of the blast.
ABC7ny.com reported residents from neighboring towns called 911 to report there may have been an earthquake.
The cause of the blast has not been disclosed by authorities. The fire department reported units from Hardyston and surrounding towns had finished working the scene by 2 a.m.
Grumm Road will be closed indefinitely, authorities said.
I actually heard the boom sound and felt the ground shake from the blast that night at my house which is twenty-two miles south of Hardyston.