The woman at the center of a domestic violence incident that led to an explosion and fire in North Haven, Conn., Wednesday night had been held hostage for several days before alerting authorities, according to law enforcement sources.
The woman contacted Wallingford police about 2:30 p.m., bringing police to her home, where officers worked for several hours to get the woman’s estranged husband to come out. During the standoff, a barn on the property exploded, touching off a massive fire that eventually spread to the house, sources said.
By the time the barn exploded six hours after the woman contacted authorities, North Haven police had been joined by a regional SWAT team. Six police officers were injured when the barn exploded.
The massive fire was still burning early Thursday morning. The woman, who sources said had been severely beaten, was able to get out of the house and notify police. She was being treated at a local hospital. Her condition was not known. The husband’s fate was unclear early Thursday, although Trooper Kelly Grant, a state police spokeswoman, said shortly before 2 a.m. that she believed the man was in the barn when it exploded.
As many as eight police officers were injured when the barn exploded and at least six were sent to Yale-New Haven Hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries, North Haven Deputy Police Chief Jonathan Mulhern said.
Neighbor John Marotto said immediately after the blast, “I heard them screaming. They got blown away, back from the garage. I saw a fireball come off the back of the garage, and then the roof was gone. The side facing our house was totally gone. It was unbelievable — the noise, unbelievable. I thought I was in a war zone.” Marotto’s property abuts the property where the explosion occurred.
Yale-New Haven Hospital said it was treating seven patients from the incident in its emergency room.
The police response began Wednesday afternoon when the domestic violence incident was reported to North Haven police, said state police Master Sgt. Marc Gelven. The man then barricaded himself in the home and police and a regional SWAT team responded. North Haven First Selectman Michael Freda said police negotiated with a man for “a couple hours.”
Sources said a woman who lives in the home filed for divorce last month. Freda said the husband barricaded himself inside the house with his wife; he was not sure if there were any children in the home.
“Over the course of a couple hours our officers were trying to coax the gentlemen out and defuse the situation,” Freda said. “Four to six of our officers were searching the back barn area when there was an explosion in the barn back there. Four were taken to hospital with abrasions and possible concussions.”
Freda said he was not aware of any previous incidents involving police at the home. Freda wondered whether the barn was rigged to explode.
“It sounds almost like it was a booby-trap type of explosion,” Freda said. “Based on the way the explosions took place, from what police told me, there was a series of explosions, which may indicate some sort of rigged booby traps.”
Some officials called the building a barn, others called it a garage.
State police SWAT teams responded to the scene after the explosion and were assisting North Haven police. The state police central district major crime squad took over the investigation late Wednesday and was being assisted by the FBI and ATF.
Police could be heard calling out over loudspeakers to the man. Police were still trying to contact the man and firefighters were battling the blaze near midnight.
“Please come out the front door, we’re here to help you,” police called out. “If you do not come out immediately you will be subject to arrest. Come out, we want to help you, but you have to come out.”
Police evacuated homes adjacent to the property and asked other neighbors to remain in their homes.
The property where the explosion occurred is on Quinnipiac Avenue near Orient Lane. Earlier Wednesday night North Haven police had urged people to avoid the area.
Anthony Laudano, who lives a short distance from the house, said the explosion broke plates in his kitchen, shattered a window and knocked pictures off the walls.
“I honestly thought it was an airplane crashing, it was so loud,” Laudano said. “I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 20 years. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced. I mean, this is a quiet neighborhood.”
Residents near the home reported on the police department’s Facebook page that they heard the explosion and felt their own homes shake around 8:30 p.m.
Courant reporter Mikaela Porter and correspondent Naedine Hazell contributed to this report.
