A TV fire caused a blast that ripped open two walls in the Hockessin-area home of former New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon on Friday night, authorities said Saturday.

However, authorities have not said how the TV fire started.

Firefighters responded to a "tv that caught fire and blew up" in the back corner of the home, said Hockessin Fire Chief Quint Saienni.

The blast blew a hole in Tom Gordon's two-story home. Gordon, a three-term county executive and former chief of police for New Castle County, was spotted out in the yard as responders put out the blaze.

When crews arrived, they found small debris still smoldering inside the home office at the back of the house and quickly extinguished the first-floor fire, Saienni said.

The fire chief said when they realized who lived at the residence, they called police to make sure it wasn't anything more than just a house fire.

"We wanted to make sure there was no foul play and to secure the house," Saienni said.

The explosion caused an estimated $40,000 of damage to the house in the 200 block of Louis Lane, said Michael Chionchio of the State Fire Marshal's Office. The home was not in danger of collapse, according to the fire marshal.

Investigators believe the explosion was caused by "flammable vapors" in the home. Saienni said it was powerful.

"It was large enough of an explosion to blow out the back of the house," he said. "We know it's more than just a TV."

The fire has not yet been ruled accidental, Chionchio said.

Gordon told The News Journal on Friday night that contact cleaner for electronics must have been leaking. He could not be reached for further comment.

County police arrived and interviewed residents and witnesses as fire investigators searched the home. No neighbors reported hearing the explosion to police, Chionchio said.

Emergency responders cleared the home after about two and a half hours. The four residents were not injured in the explosion, Chionchio said. The home was deemed safe by a county building inspector, so Gordon and his family were not forced to leave the Hockessin home.

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Contact Josephine Peterson at (302)324-2856 or jhpeterson@delawareonline.com. Follow her @jopeterson93.