Local News

Berlin home explosion ‘rained fire,’ chiefs say

As officials release new details about last week's lethal blast, 79-year-old Judy Christensen is being remembered for her love for her community.

Firefighters work at the scene of an April 14 home explosion that killed one woman and sent another to the hospital. WCVB, via The Boston Globe

By Abby Patkin

April 21, 2023

2 minutes to read

A police officer and several neighbors braved intense heat and live electrical wires to rescue a woman trapped under debris following a home explosion in Berlin last week.

Berlin Fire Chief Michael McQuillen and Police Chief Eric Schartner released additional details Thursday about the April 14 blast, which killed 79-year-old Judy Christensen and seriously injured her daughter Jill. Investigators are still searching for a cause of the explosion and resulting fire.

Exploding homes:

Berlin police officer Molly Plante was the first to arrive after emergency crews were dispatched to 71 Pleasant St., McQuillen and Schartner said in a joint news release. Plante found two neighbors — Brian and Dylan Clemmer — attempting to lift a piece of roof off of Jill Christensen.

“There was heavy fire within feet of them as they worked tirelessly to assist the victims,” according to the release. “They faced intense heat as a second explosion occurred, bringing with it heavy fire and a live electrical wire sparking under their feet as they straddled it.”

The group was able to move the debris, and Plante and neighbor Bobby Wheeler pulled Jill Christensen out and carried her over live power lines, McQuillen and Schartner said. As the fire grew in intensity, Plante put Christensen over her shoulder and carried her to safety.

“Almost immediately after she set the victim down, another massive explosion occurred, engulfing the property in flames which Officer Plante described as ‘raining fire,’” according to the release.

“Without the actions of these individuals, there is no doubt in my mind that the outcome would not have been as positive for this trapped person,” McQuillen said in a statement.

First responders were unable to save Judy Christensen “due to the volume of fire that developed and rapidly deteriorating building damage from multiple explosions,” according to the release. She died at the scene.

McQuillen and Schartner remembered Christensen “for her smile and the laughter she spread.”

A nearly lifelong Berlin resident, Judy Christensen “loved her town and those who called Berlin home. They in turn truly loved her back,” according to her obituary. In addition to Jill, she is survived by children Christopher Christensen and Kelly Czepiel, as well as seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

A GoFundMe fundraiser to cover Jill Christensen’s medical bills and Judy Christensen’s funeral expenses raised more than $67,000 as of Friday morning.

Judy Christensen “was always the first person to lend a hand or her home to anyone who needed it,” organizer Andrea Clemmer wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Countless men and women in town have used her house as a residence over the past six decades. Hotel Christensen, as it was known, because she was everyone’s second mom.”