Will Cleveland, and Jon Hand

Democrat and Chronicle

If the blast had gone off even two minutes earlier, it's likely someone would have died at the scene of an explosion in Henrietta Tuesday morning.

Henrietta Fire Department Lt. Tom Hayes was one of the first responders at 134 Buckley Place responding to a report of gas odor.

He said only two minutes transpired between the time he arrived and the time the huge blast went off. He said the homeowner, Eugene Upshaw and his wife, Louise, both in their 80s, were on the property at that time.

"From the time the firefighters arrived at the scene to the time the house exploded, it was less than two minutes," he added.

Firefighters could smell gas and could hear a hissing sound indicative of a gas leak, and began to walk the couple up the street as a safety precaution. They were only about 40 feet away — standing in the road outside the home — when the house blew up.

"I'm grateful it didn't go off 60 seconds earlier. If it had gone off two minutes earlier, Mr. Upshaw was standing at his front door ... this could've been a totally different situation," Hayes said.

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