Flash powder caused the Nov. 24, 2024, explosion and blaze that resulted in one death in Tallahassee’s Levy Park neighborhood, according to a State Fire Marshal’s Office report.
Jeremy Dean Vause, 42, died from blast and thermal injuries when a morning explosion destroyed the house on the 1500 block of Yancey Street, where he was living with his mother. The explosion also was ruled accidental.
Investigators determined Vause had been making homemade fireworks using explosive materials. Records show he ordered aluminum powder and potassium chlorate from Georgia on Oct. 30, 2024, with the package being delivered a couple of days later.
When combined, the chemicals create flash powder capable of producing an explosion matching the damage investigators observed, the 43-page report says.
Emergency responders survey the damage after a fatal house fire on Yancey Street on Sunday, Nov. 24. 2024.
Witnesses told investigators they had seen black powder, inert grenades, wiring and soldering irons in Vause’s bedroom days before the explosion. One friend reported seeing “multiple boxes of gunpowder” in Vause’s closet when he visited just days before the blast.
The explosion was so powerful it blew out walls, shattered windows blocks away and left a large charred crater in the front of the home. Vause’s mother, Priscilla Walker, who owned the home, escaped through a window after a wall landed on her “while she was lying on the sofa in the living room,” the investigative report says.
Investigators ruled out other potential causes including natural gas leaks and electrical issues.
At the time, people saw smoke visible as far away as downtown from the explosion, which reverberated around the Levy Park neighborhood. Glass shards littered the roadway in front of the house and were in neighbors’ yardsas far as three homes away.
A house on Yancey Street in Tallahassee after a fire and explosion on Sunday, Nov. 24. 2024.
“There was a very big boom that shook our house,” one neighbor told the Tallahassee Democrat. “I thought something hit our house or maybe a transformer blew. “Then I saw (fire) trucks coming down the street.”
An obituary written by his mother said Vause “loved riding Harley Davidson motorcycles and was protective to his friends and family. He was a creative and loved to tinker with things. He once made me this beautiful butterfly from wire and I kept it by the television so I could always see it.
“He was a hard worker and worked six days a week, most weeks,” she added. “I’ve learned that there were a lot of people that had asked ‘Jay’ for help and he was always there for them. He is and will always be so terribly missed.”
Previous coverage: Morning fatal house fire and explosion rattle Levy Park neighborhood
This story contains previously published reporting. Jim Rosica can be reached at jrosica@tallahassee.com. Follow him on X: @JimRosicaFL.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Homemade fireworks caused fatal Tallahassee blast, investigators say