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A deadly early morning blast that erased a two-story house and killed a shaken couple from their bed up to a mile away, and sent waves of shock and sadness across the small community from Newfield. "It breaks your heart," said Wayne Ingling, a friend of the couple who lives near North Vineland. "These are people who went to sleep last night like everyone else and who do not wake up today."
John, 73, and Carole Paladino, 72, were the only people at the time. 39, inside the Oakwood Drive home to explode around 6:15, the authorities said. Sunday autopsies would determine the exact cause of death.
Authorities said that the cause of the explosion is still determined, but they do not suspect foul play. The call came as a gas explosion, and the gas was temporarily cut to homes in the area.
Ingling, a volunteer firefighter in Vineland, said that he could not believe the destruction that he saw when he arrived at Paladino's house the usual being, not long after the explosion. There was no house, and the debris was scattered as far as the eye could see.
"It looked like zero soil, mattresses in the wires and trees, blown windows of other houses," he said. A neighbor found a Christmas card, and someone else found a letter of health insurance.
Photographs of the scene showed a thick layer of rubble across the property, an insulation hanging from the trees, pieces of walls in a pool and debris scattered on the yard and trampoline of a neighbor. A video of the Daily Journal showed the steaming wreckage.
Ingling said that he had known Carole Paladino for about 50 years because they were in the same class at Vineland High School. He said that she became a nurse and finished school nurse in the Millville Public Schools, where he also worked until retirement.
They were not close friends, but ended up chatting whenever schoolwork landed them same building. He described her as friendly and beloved in the school district.
He said that she had a habit of teaching Catholic religious education at a local Catholic school.
He met John Paladino when they played baseball together as teens. Recently, John Paladino worked part-time at DeMarco-Luisi Funeral Home in Vineland, Ingling said.
"He always had a smile on his face, even in difficult times, doing this job," he said. "If he saw me cutting the grass, he would pull the car in the driveway and come talk."
Ingling said the Paladinos had children and grandchildren.
Although they live about a mile and a half from the Paladinos, Ingling's wife, Maryanne, was awakened by the blast. She called out to him, she said, wondering if the shock she felt was due to her fall.
"We got up and looked around and we thought it might have been a car accident because we heard sirens. He was listening to his Vineland Fire Radio but could not distinguish the details of what had happened. Then his daughter called him and told him to turn on the TV, recognizing the collapse of the Paladinos' home in the news
"They were good people," says Ingling
. South Jersey Gas spokeswoman Marissa Travaline told the news website that utility crews arrived within 20 minutes of the blast and suspended service to 15 houses while emergency responders were working to get the service.
Fire brigades from several cities responded to the blast with the Frankling Township Police, which controls Newfield, a state police unit and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco. , Firearms and Explosives.
Documents from the Associated Press were used in this story
Rebecca Everett can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett . Find NJ.com on Facebook
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