Riverhead men injured in Water Mill home explosion recovering at Stony Brook; witness describes scene

The two Riverhead construction workers injured in a fiery explosion at a home in Water Mill yesterday are recovering today at Stony Brook University Hospital.

A hospital spokesperson said today that Abner Canel, 18, is in serious condition while his coworker, Rolando Perez, 40, is listed in fair condition.

Both workers were outside the remains of the home when a nearby resident, who’d raced to the scene after a loud explosion rocked his design studio yesterday afternoon at about 2:15, arrived at the scene.

“We heard what sounded like a loud explosion and felt like a huge load of snow fell on our roof,” Austin Handler, of Mabley Handler Interior Design on nearby Head of Pond Road in Water Mill, said in an interview today.

“It was a thud that really rattled the whole design studio. We really thought something fell on our house. We heard an alarm going off, looked outside and saw a plume of gray smoke that quickly turned to a lot of black smoke. There seemed to be debris floating in the air. I jumped in my car and raced over there,” Handler said. “I was there within three minutes.”

Handler found two men standing outside where the house once stood. The structure had been reducing to a pile of rubble that was ablaze.

“It was literally leveled, like it wasn’t even there,” Handler said. “It was flat. How they got out I have no idea,” he said.

“One man had a black sweatshirt jacket that looked like it went through a paper shredder,” he said. Debris and glass was blown out into the street, he said.

“Both of their faces were bleeding. The younger guy’s hands were really burnt up and bleeding,” Handler said.

The older man was sitting the whole time, he said. “He seemed like he was hurt more seriously,” Handler said.

The younger man was pacing around, Handler said. “He spoke Spanish and said his hands and face were messed up,” he said.

Southampton Town volunteer firefighters extinguished the blaze. Both men were airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital.

Southampton Police said the men, who were the only occupants of the vacant home at the time of the explosion, were working in the basement when they accidentally hit a gas line.

The home had recently been sold and was vacant, Handler said.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Austin Handler

Correction: A previously published version of this article incorrectly stated the physical conditions of the victims due to incorrect information provided by the hospital.