Dilworth home blaze, explosion were intentional, Charlotte Fire Department says
A Dilworth home explosion and fire early Friday near Freedom Park were intentional, the Charlotte Fire Department confirmed Saturday.
The department also confirmed in a social media post that no one was inside the home, located in the 1600 block of Lombardy Circle, when the explosion occurred.
“This fire put lives at risk — both the public and our firefighters,” Charlotte Fire Chief Reginald Johnson said. “Intentionally set fires threaten entire neighborhoods and endanger those sworn to protect them.”
Two adjacent homes sustained damage, the department said, and caused an estimated $445,000 in property and content loss.
A civilian and a firefighter sustained minor injuries, the department said, but they did not require transport to a hospital.
Dilworth neighbors heard explosion
Dilworth neighbors heard “the sound of an explosion” before first responders arrived at the scene of the two-alarm fire early Friday, firefighters said.
No one died in the fire, said Charlotte Fire Battalion Chief John Lipcsack.
The fire was controlled in a little over an hour, Lipcsack added.
At about 6:16 a.m., Charlotte Fire Department received several calls about what neighbors described as an explosion, the department wrote in a statement posted on X. Firefighters on scene by 6:18 a.m. found a home on fire on the 1600 block of Lombardy Circle. Video posted on Instagram shows flames reaching treetops. A second alarm was requested at 6:33 a.m., the department said Saturday on X.
“Firefighters operated in extremely hazardous conditions, navigating structural instability, active fire, and gas leaks while working to bring the incident under control,” the fire department said in a statement.
CFD has not named the property owner. On Monday, the department said the address was 1645 Lombardy Circle.
The home is owned by Michael E. Barnette, who purchased it in 2012, according to Mecklenburg County property records.
Neighbors near the home react
Misty Hurd said her house, located behind the home that exploded, rocked at about 6:10 a.m., leaving her and her husband disoriented. She said they thought it was an earthquake and went to check on her kids. When she opened the windows, she realized what had happened. The Charlotte Fire Department arrived in the next few minutes, she added.
“The house is completely gone,” Hurd said. “It was gone before they probably even arrived. … It was full flames.”
Hurd said the home was for sale and unoccupied at the time of the explosion. Friends from other areas, including Plaza Midwood, told her they could hear the explosion as well. A neighbor walking his dog nearby when the explosion occurred told Hurd the force left him unbalanced.
“It was a little unnerving,” Hurd said. She was grateful for the quick response from firefighters.
Scott Young and his wife thought a tree might have fallen in their neighborhood on Henley Place when they heard the explosion. Trees fall often, Young said, but when he went outside and walked around his house, he said he saw smoke.
“We noticed the smoke and then all of a sudden our neighborhood was just inundated with white smoke,” said Young, who lives about a mile away from the home. “It smelled like a wood fire.” He said he was “mortified” when he learned it was a home explosion.
“It scared the heck out of my dog,” he said. “I hope nobody got hurt.”
Injured in explosion
Curt Sowers and his husband were minutes from being awakened by their alarm when the explosion occurred next door. Their windows were blown out, he said, including one in their bedroom. The glass blew across the room and hit his husband in the head, cutting him.
“I said, ‘I bet our tree fell,’ and I thought maybe it was thunder. And then I saw the fire,” Sowers said. “He said, ‘I’m bleeding,’ and I said, ‘We need to get out of here.’”
Sowers’ husband declined to comment or be named.
At first, the fire appeared to be small, Sowers said. But once he and his husband walked out of their home, he could feel the fire’s heat.
Sowers watched as firefighters arrived. He was concerned when fire crews struggled to get water to come out of their hoses.
“It took 15 minutes before water started coming out of the hoses to put out the fire,” Sowers said. “I’m sitting there seeing this house, this huge ball of fire, and then it got up in our tree that’s next to our house, and the tree is on fire, and nothing’s happening. There’s no water.”
Sowers said he knew the neighbor who lived in the home that exploded and saw him Thursday night. He said someone from the fire department told him there was footage of the neighbor returning a rental vehicle at 9 p.m. the same night.
“He was a quiet guy, and … lately not very engaging, but he had been … involved in things,” Sowers said. “Then the last couple of years was kind of reclusive.”
The couple were supposed to be leaving for New York on Friday morning, with plans to see musicals and get dinner with friends. Instead, Sowers said, they were working with their insurance company and the American Red Cross to find a place to sleep.
Their home was condemned, Sowers said, and their vehicles still stuck at their property.
“We can’t live there,” he said. “ It was knocked off of the foundation.”
This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 9:44 AM.
