Géza’s house exploded and became uninhabitable

2023-04-27 17:30:00

50-year-old Géza Balla works in the rubber factory in Makó as a material and shrinker. The man has an adult daughter who lives in nearby Tótkomlós, and Géza lives alone in Ambrózfalva, in a small house on Dózsa Street.

You can’t even open the door

– My family and I moved to Ambrózfalva in 1984. My mother and I used to live together in this house, and for a good decade, since she died, I have been alone. The house became life-threatening and uninhabitable due to the explosion, said Géza Balla. He added that he renovated the adobe house as much as his money allowed. He replaced the street windows and tidied up two rooms. This year, he planned to build a bathroom. Now everything has become uncertain, including when he can even open the door of his house again.

He was at the garden door when the explosion happened

– On the evening of April 19, I cooked chicken with peppers on the gas stove. It was almost ready, but I let it run a bit, I took the gas as a reserve. Well, I say, I’ll leave it for another quarter of an hour to make it as delicious as possible. Until then, I went to the presso a few houses away for a beer. I was only there for a few minutes, then I came home to remove the paprika and add water for the pasta. I was just pressing the doorknob on the garden gate when a huge explosion happened – Géza recalled what happened. He didn’t dare to go inside, he immediately called emergency services. First, the volunteers from Tótkomlós and then the firefighters from Mezőkovácsháza arrived on the scene.

The gas explosion did not cause a fire, but the detonation knocked down the courtyard wall of the house, the ceiling disappeared, and the roof collapsed. The house became uninhabitable.

Géza Balla showed the gas stove on which the paprika chicken was cooked. The man has no idea what exactly could have caused the explosion. Photo: Erika Kovács

He is asking for help with the renovation

“I don’t know what could have happened.” The gas flame may have gone out for a moment, but it continued to leak and could have caught a spark from something, perhaps it is related to the light that was left on. I can only guess – mentioned the man, from whom we also learned that the gas cylinder remained intact, but the oven door was blown off the stove by the explosion. Until the structural engineer has seen the building, it is certainly not possible to enter the house, maybe not even after that. Due to the explosion, the electricity had to be disconnected. The man has a fridge-freezer and a separate deep-freezer, by now even the meat in it could have gone bad.

Géza has now moved into a municipal property as a favor, a room was set up for him at the base of the public workers. The man wants to return to his own as soon as possible.

“I have another house in the village, but it is also uninhabitable.” It had to be closed due to a series of burglaries. I didn’t even open it for a good decade and a half, the rodents had already done a “good job” there, it got soaked, the chimney collapsed, so I can’t move there either. I would like to renovate this property on Dózsa Street, he said. However, his salary at the tire factory will not be enough for this. The man is asking anyone who can help with money or building materials so that he can move back as soon as possible. Your account number: 11773339-01895328-00000000.