I looked at but didn’t purchase a home that heated its basement using a stove connected to a propane tank just outside one of its walls. The rest of the house was on a central heating system. So yes, it’s possible, althoughy why anyone would locate the tank inside the garage is a mystery. Was the garage an add on and the tank was already located there? 100 pounds is probably the right amount for a small heating area. RVs usually are attached to 40 pound tanks when parked in a campgound.

BoKnows on December 15, 2010 at 4:53 pm

I guarentee you that it was a devout female Zoroastrian immigrant from New Zealand… NOT!

But, seriously, Debbie… Remember what happened when you “speculated” that an Asian shooter was a “Paki”? You were wrong then; who knows whether you’re wrong now? Maybe, maybe not.

M: I never “speculated” that an Asian shotter was a “Paki.” I asked if he was and said it’s possible. Just like it’s possible this was a Muslim. RIF–Reading Is Fundamental. DS

Mike on December 15, 2010 at 5:08 pm

We don’t know yet. It could be an accident. Things like this do happen.

If it occurred in multiple dwellings, I’d be more suspicious.

NormanF on December 15, 2010 at 5:13 pm

It is very common to run central heating systems from propane. Large propane tanks are routinely used to hold the fuel. They are typically above ground.

Usually, the propane tanks are outside.

There is NO Santa Claus on December 15, 2010 at 5:29 pm

They own an RV business. RVs use propane.

Keeping the tank inside could have been to hide it as it wasn’t inspected & certified safe. Hence the explosion.

The size of the explosion was due to the large tank.

While propane is easy to get and make an IED, it is notoriously unreliable. Not that the terrorists have figured that out.

Does all this point to a Islamofascism? No,but better safe than sorry.

Sam Adams on December 15, 2010 at 6:51 pm

Also, storage of hazardous materials without a permit is illegal in most states, especially if it is in a zoned residential area. Was the area zoned light industrial or residential? But, Debbie is definitely correct about this matter being suspicious, since the names of the parties responsible have not been released as of yet. Does Michigan have an open records statute that would cover this?

worry01 on December 15, 2010 at 7:51 pm

Maybe the home owner is a collector of combustable gases. Some people collect coins, others coffee mugs. It could be he found some propane in the Ford River Rouge Plant or the gas from the Dearborn City Hall in which case it wouldn’t be propane but, methane.

Fred Feyertag on December 15, 2010 at 7:54 pm

[Debbie – Not only did the garage blow up, but two other
garages blew up and three houses were partially knocked
off their foundations.  Plus the explosion shattered the
windows of many homes in the area.]

How come there has not been any legal action? If a
crime was not committed wouldn’t people still sue over
damage to their homes? If a crime was committed then
charges should be filed. Either way any legal activity
should make the name or names public.  

I_AM_ME on December 15, 2010 at 9:08 pm

I seriously doubt he was heating his home with a 100 pound propane tank.
A 500 sq.ft cabin maybe,but not a home.It would be way to expensive.
A 100 pound tank only holds 23 gallons of propane and propane gas companies will only deliver a minium of 200 gallons.
So what was he doing?
Driving to a refill station every other day and refilling the tank?
It would cost about $75 to refill the tank.

You also need a dolly or two people to manuveur a tank of that size.

ebayer on December 15, 2010 at 9:43 pm

You can indeed heat a home with a 100-lb tank of propane, but that is not what is going on here. Storing propane in a residential garage is illegal anywhere in the USA. Someone must of been doing something both energy intensive and illegal that he or she did not want tipped by a large gas bill. My guess is that someone was cooking meth, which requires heat and a combination of combustible materials.

chsw

chsw on December 15, 2010 at 9:59 pm

Hi Debbie

Actually my in-laws heat their home with propane (cheaper in CT than the electric heat they had). It uses a large tank although I don’t know how large. They live in a rural area so natural gas lines don’t go there. The Dearbornistan explosion could still be something fishy like a prep for an IED, but I just wanted to say that it COULD be used for heat.

Thanks!

Sean M on December 15, 2010 at 10:01 pm

He might’ve been cooking crank. It sounds more to me like homie owes DTE a boatload of $$$ and had his utilities turned off. I wouldn’t be surprised if a generator was in the garage too and the electricity and propane were jury rigged to run in the house. I once had next door neighbors who were middle eastern immigrants and they did the same thing. That was in Detroit though. I’m sure back in the mother country this is commly done.

murder_city on December 15, 2010 at 11:19 pm

He possibly might have been using it with a portable heater to heat his garage, maybe to do some work that required a warm enviroment. But then, why the secrecy from the fire department?
Where in most cases, stuff like this would make front page with lots of names, lately, when there’s a cover up, some muslim is involved.
Yup, definitely fishy.

theShadow on December 15, 2010 at 11:35 pm

Some homes are heated by propane. They are usually a large tank outside and hundreds of gallons. A propane truck comes every couple of months to fill it. I did have while stationed in Italy a propane buring gas stove in my kitchen. It took a propane tank that weighed a lot, probably around 50 lbs. I did keep a spare tank in the garage. It is very odd to have that large of a mobile propane tank in a garage in the US. They could be saving money and using it to heaet. Still it is dangerous.

Ken Gerber on December 16, 2010 at 1:28 am

Regarding the 100 lb propane tank at a person’s home, we live in a bucolic county two counties southwest of Philadelphia, PA. There are numerous homes out here with large propane tanks with which the residents cook, heat their home, or whatever.

I have also been uncomfortable with propane tanks and propane as a fuel and heating source, so I am happy that we at our home use fuel oil heat for home heating, and electricity for cooking rather than propane.

We do use small propane cannisters for cooking and night time illumination when camping out of doors, but, as a safety precaution, we do not bring the propane into the tent.

If the owners of the large tank are Muslim or Arab, and they have a RV business, perhaps they don’t follow standards which other RV companies follow and merely fill propane tanks for RVs, boats, etc., at the location that the large propane tank is seated on.

Debbie, please let us know what you find out.

Thank you.

William on December 16, 2010 at 1:36 am

Off Topic: Tomorrow is he 10th of Tevet. I wish any religious Jews on this website, who may be fasting tomorrow, an easy one.

Miranda Rose Smith on December 16, 2010 at 2:06 am

Sometimes we have to make inferences. This is a part of intelligence and successful investigation.

The fact that there could be alternate explanations is irrelevant when we are dealing with odd behavior and odd activities with a population, or potential population(i.e. Muslims, to say the obvious) which is at high probability or risk for terrorist activity. In such a situation, a competent investigator will not spend hours searching for alternate explanations or scenarios that could potentially explain such activity in an innocent way.

They will investigate to see what’s going on, in order to ensure that the rest of us are protected.

Little Al on December 16, 2010 at 6:30 am

And, needless to say, since some of us, especially alert residents of that ‘community’, or living area, are anxious about what is happening, the investigators should disclose all relevant information.

Little Al on December 16, 2010 at 6:31 am

I have a 350 lb tank in my yard. It feeds my furnace and gas stove. It is a large tank for home use, but I have a tough driveway in the winter. There is no way I would put even a 10 pd tank (typical for an outdoor grill) inside my garage. To much damage in a confined space.

Tanstaafl on December 16, 2010 at 10:35 am

Debbie, please remove the post with the nasty language.

MOMinMINNESOTA on December 16, 2010 at 11:42 am

People who use propane to heat usually live in a rural area (no natural gaslines and hard to get oil delivery) and they keep the tanks outside because it is safer. If someone was using propane to heat a garage, I would think they would keep the tank outside because of the fire hazard.

MOMinMINNESOTA on December 16, 2010 at 11:44 am

@ C

The Dearborn Battalion Chief John Hay said in a raw video at the scene,that the tank was INSIDE the garage behind the house when it exploded.

Using a propane tank INSIDE of the garage IS a fire hazard.
Just because YOU say it was outside doesn’t mean that it’s true.

Debbie never wrote that there was a fire.

Here’s the link to the raw video of Chief John Hay at the scene:
http://www.vmix.com/demo-step4.php?media_id=38850561
********************************************************

“They wont give you the source of the ignition, because they don’t know what caused it (you fact twisting cunt).”

Really? You personally spoke with the fire investigators and/or the Chief to get that information?
**************************************************

“Spreading your hate through the world”

Yeah,nice try,but the only people that are spreading hate are the people like the Pakistan Times Square bomber who used three 25-pound propane tanks in October of this year in his car bomb.

ebayer on December 16, 2010 at 12:27 pm

@ C

Just because the explosion didn’t ignite doesn’t change the fact that public resources were used.
***************************************************

“I agree with you, ppl that bomb places to spread terror are spreading hate through the world. I pretty much said that alrdy.”

No you didn’t “pretty much say that”.What you said was:

“You’re the terrorist here. Spreading your hate through the world, and asking ppl to give you donations so you can continue doing it. Seems like a terrorist organization to me. You may not be bombing ppl, but actions don’t always speak louder than words.”

ebayer on December 16, 2010 at 1:45 pm

And why haven’t local law enforcement or Wayne State authorities still released the name of the student who was reportedly banned from campus from making online threats of violent acts at the college? This must’ve been pretty serious if the student was permanently banned from campus. How long does the investigation take.

And why in other communities like Arlington, VA, when the FBI was summoned to investigate a local college student for online threats, do they not hesitate to identify the alleged suspect?
FBI arrested Awaid Younis, aka Sundullah Ghizai, aka Mohhanme Khan for posting Facebook threats about blowing up pipe bombs on the DC Metro and on Georgetown streets.
http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=125696&catid=188

What is it about Wayne or Dearborn or Detroit or MI that authorities here are not transparent and do not disclose the names, identities or backgrounds of suspects whose intent or threats to do harm are so serious that they are banned from a university campus? BTW, was the student American-born, or was he here on “extended” vacation?

M. Met on December 16, 2010 at 2:18 pm

Propane is cheaper to use these days, the owner owns an RV business which RVs use propane as a primary energy source so its readily available to him. He could also write-off its cost as a natural business expense so he’s heating his home for free. However its still suspicious that fire and law-enforcement wouldn’t disclose the homeowners identity maybe its a friend of the family or an Arab terrorist trying to get-over with real connections.

Anthony on December 16, 2010 at 3:01 pm

The home is owned by a William Manszewski. As Ms. Schlussel is fond of asking, wonder what religion he is.

T: It’s not who owns it. It’s who lives there. Who lives there? Who used the propane tank? DS

Therealdeal on December 16, 2010 at 4:26 pm

lmao@ Doug

ebayer on December 16, 2010 at 5:07 pm

try gathering all the facts before you post something you stupid fucking cunt,thats my family your running your mouth about.there was no fire,no propane tank exploded and it was behind the garage not inside so maybe you should get off your lazy fucking ass and research and talk to reliable people before you start talking shit.they are not saying what caused the explosion because its unknown still,common sense should have told you that but i guess since your a stupid blonde you dont have any of that!

Rick on December 16, 2010 at 5:28 pm

I can’t believe you took down every comment that opposed you. I’m sure you will take this one down too, but atleast a few ppl will see it. I thought maybe you were just acting out of ignorance, but now I see you truely do enjoy spreading hate and lies.

Here’s a repost of what I had said before (minus the lang, for all you children):

You s***** b****. You call yourself a reporter? You are completely ignorant of everything to do with this story. Do you even care who you hurt with your false reporting, ignorance, and racist remarks? That is my friend and co-worker you are talking about. Unfortunately, he came across this page while googling reports of what happened. The family is white, not that it matters to you. I’ve read a few of your so-called “reports,” and they are nothing, but the words of an ignorant and hateful person. You make all these normal, loving, hard working, peaceful, American people out to be hateful terrorist. You’re the terrorist here. Spreading your hate through the world, and asking ppl to give you donations so you can continue doing it. Seems like a terrorist organization to me. You may not be bombing ppl, but actions don’t always speak louder than words.

The tank was outside the garage. To call a propane tank a “fire hazard” is like calling a gas station, a kitchen stove, or car engine a fire hazard. The ppl you have heard about driving the propane trucks are most likely using them for their jobs, not terrorism. They wont give you the source of the ignition, because they don’t know what caused it (you fact twisting c***). Finally, there was no fire. The tank burst.

Some of you ppl in the comments are just as bad as this Hitler wannabe. Don’t just assume things. These ppl weren’t cooking meth or any crazy s*** like that. The tank was attached to a heater for the garage. The guy works in his garage. Anyone who has ever been through a MI winter would tell you they’d love a heated garage. This is a normal family. Bad stuff happens to good ppl too.

C on December 17, 2010 at 7:50 am

Hey MOMinMINNESOTA …. The Tank was OUTSIDE!!! Oh wait your believe Debbie Dumbass thought don’t you!!!

Truth on December 17, 2010 at 5:31 pm

Are you out of your mind, DS? We know you are racist and a bigot and prejudice and everything else, but you really should get some facts before spouting out and stirring people up. These aren’t Muslims or Arabs, and is that really the point? This family has lived in the house for generations. They are struggling now, and instead of making up stuff for your blog, you could actually find a way to help the family and neighbors, many are retirees. Do some good instead of evil. Hopefully you don’t think of yourself as a journalist or anything remotely close to it.

Former Dearbornite on December 22, 2010 at 12:02 pm