gas Explosion on Cleveland's West Side W. 83rd and Madison - shatter windows of homes more than two blocks away

 UPDATED

      Frank Miller, Special to The Plain DealerFirefighters battle fire caused by a house explosion on W. 83rd and Madison Monday. The pile of rubble is the house that exploded. The house next to it was badly damaged.By Pat Galbincea and Gabriel Baird

CLEVELAND, Ohio - An explosion destroyed a house in the 2000 block of West 83rd Street near Madison Avenue this afternoon sending a force through the neighborhood strong enough to shatter windows of homes more than two blocks away.

Firefighters were working to contain the fire of the vacant home. The explosion damaged the house next door destroying about half of the structure. Natural gas is the suspected cause of the explosion, according to people at the scene. No one has been living in the house.

Several neighbors whose homes were damaged were taken to local hospitals for treatment of minor injuries, officials said.

Neighbor Bill Calberwood said he was walking his dog when he heard and felt the blast just after 3 p.m. Calberwood said he called the Dominion East Ohio Gas Co. on Friday to complain about an odor of natural gas coming from the house. 

Councilman Matt Zone said the house has been a problem property and the city has been trying to get it condemned. The gas company employee was at the house on Friday, Zone said, but apparently could not find the shut-off valve.   

Police and firefighters will investigate whether pipes were ripped out of the house by thieves.

UPDATE

Some people in the neighborhood told reporters that they complained of the smell of gas last week and that a company official then visited the home but did not turn off the gas.

Dominion East Ohio Gas Co. spokesman Neil Durbin, who was on the scene Monday as firefighters worked to extinguish the last of the flames, could not immediately confirm or refute those claims.

Once the firefighters finish up, company officials will help in determining the cause of the explosion, Durbin said.

As a precaution, gas to homes in the surrounding block was turned off, Durbin said.

Durbin said that in addition to the two-story colonial and damaged about 17 others, said

with a gabled roof as having been built more than 100 years ago. Records list the home as having been in fair condition.

James and Irene Garman sold the home in December 2008 for $13,500 to EZ Access Funding LLC, according to Cuyahoga County Auditor records.

The auditor's records described the two-story colonial with a gabled roof as having been built more than 100 years ago. Records list it in fair condition.