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Couple dies in house explosion in Orion Township, daughter escapes

Posted at 9:35 PM, Jun 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-29 17:17:08-04

A couple was killed in a house explosion that rocked an Orion Township neighborhood Wednesday night.

First responders desperately searched for the missing father and mother before the bodies of Bruce and Kathy Dominguez were found in the rubble. 

The home on Coats Road exploded around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. The couple's 29-year-old daughter, Kym, survived the blast.

The Orion Township fire chief says she was upstairs and heard someone telling her to "get out of the house." 

One of the neighbors, Dave Moen, was in his home when he heard a huge explosion.

"This was huge, I thought part of my house was gone. That's how I felt," said Moen. 

He says he ran outside and into what was left of the home, in an attempt to save the family. He managed to help the daughter to safety, but he couldn't find her 66-year-old father and 57-year-old mother. 

The township supervisor says flames were shooting 50 feet high in the air when they arrived, and parts of the home were blown more than 20-30 feet away.

There are no fire hydrants in the area, so water was trucked in from nearby roads.

Investigators say Bruce was an avid gun collector and there may have been gun powder inside along with some small propane tanks. The fire chief says neither could have caused such a large blast. 

The investigation, we're told, could take days.

Moen says Bruce and Kathy had three daughters. One of their daughters posted this image to Facebook early this morning.