House explosion in rural Thornton kills one, injures another; community teams together to clean up destruction

Local and state emergency management officials are continuing to investigate a home explosion near Thornton last Saturday that killed one person and severely injured another.

Franklin County Emergency Management in a release said dispatch received reports of a house explosion at 598 250th St., Thornton approximately five miles south of Thornton at 3:38 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

The release said rescue crews located the body of 71-year-old Janice Marie Doane at the scene. She was deceased upon arrival. Crews were able to locate another individual who was transported via MercyOne Air Med Ambulance to Unity Point Hospital in Des Moines.

Several fire departments, medical crews and emergency management responders assisted on the scene. The incident is still under investigation by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

While what caused the explosion is still under investigation, neighbor Bruce Schlichting had a horrific view of the incident just 300 feet away from the scene while traveling in his vehicle.

“I saw everything…I didn’t know what to think at first,” he said. “It was a very hard thump on my chest from the explosion.”

Schlichting added that he’s heard from people in neighboring towns that felt the blast as well.

“I understand there are people in Meservy, Sheffield and Thornton that felt or heard it,” he said.

Schlichting from that moment became a volunteer liaison of sorts for emergency and law enforcement officials as they arrived to the scene. Spending most of Saturday guiding first responders to the scene and assisting with directions, Schlichting returned to the scene Sunday to organize a cleanup of the area to remove debris from roadways and collect pictures and other personal items from the homeowners that had been scattered throughout bean fields.

“We wanted to clean up family photos and papers that are strewn across the section and come out and help pick stuff up,” he said. “We didn’t want them to lose their pictures and important stuff.”

He created a Facebook post at 10 a.m. Sunday morning for a call for volunteers, stating the effort would begin at 12:30 p.m. In the two and a half hours between the initial post and the meet time, nearly 50 people arrived to lend a hand. By 1:30 p.m., all items were collected and the area was clear for the most part.

Schlichting said that the response and the dedication of the group, which was composed of people from several surrounding communities, reflects the attitude of rural Iowa and that a community shows its strength and unity in the face of tragedy and destruction.

“It makes a person feel really good that in less than two and a half hours, you can pull that many people and get a long project done in such a short amount of time,” he said. “I’m proud of the community.”