5 Things To Know About The Plano House That Blew Up Monday

DALLAS —The silence from investigators is almost as deafening as the explosion that ripped through west Plano on Monday.

With the police and the ATF fire research lab in faraway Maryland sifting through the facts as well as the debris field, no one is saying yet why the house at 4429 Cleveland Drive is now a mass of atomized metal, glass and wood.

Here's what's known right now:

1. Joseph Kupfer, the man residing in the now-leveled residence, remains hospitalized and is described as "fighting for his life." His attorney says his injuries are so severe that he hasn't yet been able to consult with his client.

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2. The family next door, now identified as Phillip and Jennifer Jagielski and their three young boys, are all recovering from substantial injuries. The father, Phillip, remains in the hospital, and required surgery. Mother Jennifer has been released after multiple stitches across her back incurred while shielding one of the boys from the blast. The children have been released from the hospital.

3. K9s were unable to find evidence of explosives at the scene. Because that's so, investigators originally didn't consider it a crime scene.

4. Atmos Energy has also come forward to say that the explosion is "unrelated" to its natural gas system. That's both good news to neighbors nearby, and bad. If not a gas leak, then what happened? And what do the police mean exactly by "intentional?"

5. Gas does still remain as the most likely cause of the devastation. But according to Hector Tarango, a former ATF agent who spoke speculatively to Fox 4 News, there could be multiple explanations of why someone would deliberately open multiple gas access points throughout the house. That, he says, best explains how the house was blown to smithereens.

Tarango goes on to muse about possible vendettas or a life insurance claim, but also admits it could simply have been a case of bad workmanship.

And, so long as the authorities remain silent, the speculation and theories will likely continue to mount.

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