Sorry I'm Late—the Puppy Blew Up the House

April 1, 2001
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

Bad dog.  Very baaaaaad dog.

Miraculously, everyone is ok—including the perpetrator—which is amazing, considering that the blast literally blew the roof six inches off the house.

The Dodson family returned to their home in Norman to find only a heap of rubble.  Nobody had been home at the time except for their puppy Jake, a 3-month-old Rottweiler, who was was found with only minor injuries, much to the astonishment of the Dodsons.  The rest of the structure was in chunks.

"I can't believe it, and even our vet can't believe it," says Paula Dodson.  "He said that he is very lucky."

Firefighters speculate that Jake was playing with a gas line switch in the utility room when it was inadvertently turned on, filling the room with natural gas.

When the hot water tank switched on, the spark probably ignited the gas, causing an explosion so powerful that the roof came off, and bricks were blasted from the walls.

Scoop reporters were unable to reach Jake for comment.  Apparently, after the mess he caused and the "bad dog" he's been, he feels terribly nervous in the presence of all newspapers—rolled up or otherwise.

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