HOLLADAY, Utah — Over two weeks after a Holladay home was intentionally demolished after explosives were found inside, the neighborhood is still dealing with damage, including one family that says they no longer have a home to live in.
"We're in AirBnbs because this house is unlivable. So there's no power, gas, there is some water," explained Keeva Juarez.
Footage below from a resident's security camera shows explosion lighting up the night sky:
Juarez and her family rented the home next door to the one owned by Teri Wojcik, where crews found the explosives stored there by Teri's husband, Leonard, a retired chemist at the University of Utah.
Two controlled explosions completely leveled the Wojcik house, and caused problems for others.
"It's frustrating because we didn't ask for this to happen," explained Juarez.
Keeva and her family are now looking for a new place to live.
"Being destroyed as it is, our contract with the owner of the house is void, so now we're just looking for a new place to rent," she said. "Lots of people promised to help. The city said they'd help, Red Cross, they said reach out to the LDS church.
"We're kind of just the family that got tossed aside. I've called and called people, and we're just left in the wind."
Officials stand by the decision to demolish the home, calling it the safest option due to the amount of dynamite that had been in the home for decades, and that it was sweating, meaning it was deteriorating and unstable.
"The circumference that we set up for the evacuation was a 3,000 foot circumference," explained Unified Fire Authority Asst. Chief Riley Pilgrim. "So just imagine putting that in a vehicle and driving that somewhere to detonate it safely. We would have had to clear a lot more people."
Video below shows what's left of the Holladay home:
A former FBI special agent who specializes in explosives agreed that detonation was the only option.
"The chances of moving all of that out of there without even a minor mishap were really zero," said Greg Rogers.
Keeva and the Juarez family is now literally trying to pick up the pieces.
"It's a pain just to keep going, sometimes."
The family has created a GoFundMe page to help with their rebuild.
