Officials: Theft Of Oven Leads To Explosion Of OKC Metro Home

Officials determined that a model home near Yukon, Oklahoma, exploded over the weekend, after a thief stole an oven from the building and did not turn the gas off.

According to Homes By Taber, the gas filled the home, located at 10832 N.W. 32nd Terrace, and it exploded while one of the company’s employees was in the driveway. 

2/20/2016 Related Story: Residents Rattled After House Explosion Near Yukon

Homes By Taber released the following statement,

“Homes by Taber wants to bring awareness to construction theft.  In this case, there are two police officers in the community and yet these thieves were bold enough to enter the home and steal the oven.  The price of what they will get from the stolen oven, caused almost 1 million dollars in damages and could have cost someone their life.  In 2015, Homes by Taber paid a total of $50,000 as a result of theft and have already paid $10,000 since the beginning of 2016, which does not including the cost of the recent explosion.

We want to use this experience as an opportunity to encourage everyone to report suspicious activity.  If you see suspicious activity around a construction site, call 911.  It’s better to be wrong than to overlook a theft that can have life altering consequences. 

Homes by Taber would like to announce that the model home was not harmed in the explosion and the area has been cleaned up and secured.  Please stop by and see our Community Sales Manager, Thomas “The Hero” Fleet, which survived.  He would love to answer any of your questions!  We appreciate all of the phone calls, messages, and well wishes after this incident.  We are a close-knit group and we are so incredibly grateful that our employees are safe."