Man whose Woodstock house blew up 1 year ago talks about blast, frustrations with city

Ben Bosowski was at work when his house blew up in Woodstock one year ago. His wife Savannah, though, had only left their home a short time before it was reduced to a burning pile of rubble, having popped out to get some groceries.

The couple, who lived at 321 Lincoln Avenue with a roommate a year ago when the blast occurred on Oct. 9, 2023, have not rebuilt on the property. Bosowski said their insurance covered rent on a place on the outskirts of town until they found a permanent home. He and his wife purchased a home over the summer in an area near Woodstock.

[ Photos: Woodstock explosion then and now ]

Bosowski still has concerns with what led up to the home explosion and the response from the city. He describes the city’s response as “absent” and he’s been disenchanted by his dealings with the city. When it came time for demolition work in late winter, for example, Bosowski said all the utilities had to be shut off for demolition to occur.

“We had to acquire and provide documents from each company/department saying that they came and turned them off [the utilities] to get the permits to begin the demo,” Bosowski wrote in a message to the Northwest Herald.

That included documentation that the water was shut off, but ultimately, that turned out not to be the case. When crews came out to do demolition work, the basement started to flood and “we realized that they did not actually turn off the water,” he said.

[ Woodstock blast 1 year later: Looking back at what happened then and since ]

The water had to be pumped out, incurring additional costs, Bosowski said, adding he got a water bill months later and paid it without thinking. He said he thinks they’re still awaiting a refund.

When asked if the city had covered any costs relating to the home explosion, Bosowski said “not to my knowledge.”

A fencing dispute with the city also left Bosowski frustrated. In March, he said he was told by the city to keep the fence up, but in May was instructed to take the fence down. He said he got an email from the city in March saying to put up a fence or the city would charge him or put a lien on the property.

City officials could not be reached regarding Bosowski’s comments.

Bosowski said he believed the cause of the explosion was a gas line in a place where it should not have been.

“The potentially more concerning issue is the amount of time it took them to cut the gas flow once they knew the line was damaged,” Bosowski said.When asked how long it took for the gas flow to be shut off, Bosowski said he believed it wasn’t shut off until about an hour after the explosion.

[ Revisit our coverage of the Woodstock blast ]

The day of the explosion, Bosowski said his wife, upon returning from the grocery store had to sit in the Dairy Queen parking lot, because emergency personnel didn’t allow her to return to the street following the gas leak that preceded the blast. She called him from that parking lot to tell him what had happened.

Bosowski said at the same time, the neighbors were required to stay in their homes. It was not until after the explosion that residents were evacuated, according to Northwest Herald reporting at the time.

Bosowski said he left work early to check and was able to arrive to his street in about 20 minutes. One year later, he said it’s the city’s response that leaves him frustrated.

“It was frustrating that while the whole community was reaching out and helping all of us in a variety of ways, the city stayed silent, didn’t give any guidance or reach out,” Bosowski said. “I really expected more and after going through the whole process, I think there were some things that could have been done.”

Bosowski said the water department could have called to see about disconnecting service, the zoning department could have been more prepared to issue permits “quickly and smoothly” and the city could have facilitated quicker inspections. Bosowski said they were told at the end of May the post demolition inspection was complete.

County tax records indicate there is a new owner for the property in tax year 2024, and the parcel has been retired from the tax rolls.