911 call: Worker says Josh Powell 'exploded' home

By Mike Baker

Associated Press

Published: Tuesday, Feb. 7 2012 10:51 p.m. MST

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Stromee Ryan and Shayanna Smith along with Powell family friends and well wishers attend a candlelight vigil in Salt Lake County, Utah, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012. Days after a judge ruled against Josh Powell in a child custody hearing, Powell and his two young sons were killed Sunday when police said he intentionally blew up a house with all three inside — a tragic ending to a bizarre case that began more than two years ago when Powell's wife Susan went mysteriously missing in Utah.

Deseret News, Jeffrey D. Allred, Associated Press

Summary

Authorities have released 911 recordings that revealed a social worker's frantic attempts to alert authorities that Josh Powell had locked himself and his two young sons in his home moments before he set the house on fire, killing everyone inside.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Authorities have released 911 recordings that revealed a social worker's frantic attempts to alert authorities that Josh Powell had locked himself and his two young sons in his home moments before he set the house on fire, killing everyone inside.

The unidentified social worker can be heard saying she had just dropped off the boys and that a man grabbed them, and then wouldn't let her in the door.

Josh Powell was scheduled for a supervised visit with his sons Sunday. The recordings released by the Pierce County Sheriff's office Tuesday reveal that the social worker screamed "He exploded the house!" after the fiery blaze began.

Josh Powell and his sons, 7-year-old Charlie and 5-year-old Braden, perished. Josh Powell had lost custody of them following their mother's 2000 disappearance in Utah.

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