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Jun 8, 2009 6:45 am US/Central
Gas Explosion Reported At Home Of T.D. Jakes
FORT WORTH (AP) ―
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Kevin Winter/Getty Images
A natural gas explosion Sunday morning heavily damaged the sunroom at the home of Dallas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes.
No one was injured in the blast, which investigators said appeared to be an accident.
Lt. Kent Worley, spokesman for the Fort Worth Fire Department, said the sunroom had a gas-fed pool heater and a large gas-fed barbecue grill. Worley said the damage was centered on the sunroom and there did not appear to be any major structural damage to the 15,000-square-foot home itself. He said the sunroom apparently was originally a large patio area that had been enclosed during a renovation.
Jakes was in another home on the property when someone else at the home went to investigate the loud noise, Worley said.
"When the explosion occurred, the gas was all consumed at one moment," Worley said. "There was no resulting fire."
Curtis Coats, a spokesman for Jakes, said the minister's family was also home at the time of the explosion. He did not know its cause.
Atmos Energy spokesman Ray Granado said his company ran tests and checked meters around the house after the explosion.
"There was nothing that was picked up as far as gas is concerned, no leaks around the meter or around the house," he said.
Jakes delivered a sermon at a church prayer service for Barack Obama on the morning he was sworn in as president. Jakes is pastor of The Potter's House, which has more than 28,000 members.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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