Bucks community raises more than $50,000 for family a day after their house exploded

Early Tuesday, Vince and Katie Mignogna’s house in Bucks County exploded. By the next day, area residents had raised nearly $60,000 for them.

Authorities suspected a propane leak caused the blast in the two-story home on the 4300 block of Biddeford Circle in Buckingham Township. The explosion destroyed the house, spraying piles of debris across the yard and into the street. The Mignognas, who have two sons, were not home at the time.

“There is literally nothing left, and they need all the help they can get,” Aric and Layla Boyles, friends of the Mignognas, wrote for an online fund-raiser.

Police said the house’s propane tank had been filled earlier in the morning. Around 9 a.m., neighbors said they felt a boom that rattled floors and walls.

Katie Mignogna had been at work as a fourth-grade teacher at nearby Cold Spring Elementary School when her home exploded, neighbors said, adding that they quickly called her to explain what had happened.

“I said, ‘You need to get a hold of Katie Mignogna and get her home,’ " said a neighbor and close friend, Diane Clemens. "Her house is leveled.”

Residents from the area immediately began organizing a collection for basic necessities. Clemens, standing at the end of her driveway with tears in her eyes, began texting Katie Mignogna less than two hours after the explosion to ask for her family’s clothing sizes.

Later in the day on the fund-raising page, organizers wrote: “For those of you wondering if you can help with food or clothing or other physical items, right now they have what they need for at least the next few days, and since they are staying at a friend’s house, they really have no place to put anything else.”

Local officials and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating.