Authorities said the suspect entered a basement apartment before a five-alarm fire destroyed the building.
NEW YORK — A domestic dispute in South Ozone Park ended in a violent explosion Thursday morning after police said a man entered his estranged wife’s basement apartment and set off a gas-fed fire.
The explosion tore through a home on 130th Street just before 3 a.m., collapsing the building and sending police officers, firefighters and residents into a chaotic rescue response. Authorities said 50-year-old Anroop Parasram is believed to have died in the basement, though crews could not immediately search the rubble because of unsafe conditions.
Police said the first call came in as a dispute involving a man with a knife. When officers arrived, they smelled gas and met a woman outside the home. She gave them keys to the basement apartment, where officials said Parasram had gone after forcing his way inside. As officers moved toward the apartment, the home exploded and a five-alarm fire spread through the structure.
Assistant Chief Christopher McIntosh said body-worn camera footage showed the force of the explosion throwing officers off their feet. Seven officers and one sergeant were injured. Officials said most injuries were minor burns, while one officer suffered a head laceration that required stitches. “They run through danger,” McIntosh said, describing the officers’ return toward the burning home after the blast.
All 11 residents of the building were accounted for after the fire. Officials said four people lived in the basement and seven lived on the upper floors. The woman, her daughter and two grandchildren escaped before the explosion. The Department of Buildings reported four civilian injuries, while firefighters spent hours preventing flames from spreading to neighboring homes.
Investigators said surveillance video showed Parasram carrying two garbage bags filled with canisters containing an unknown substance. Police said he appeared to enter by pushing in an air conditioning unit. Authorities said there were three expired orders of protection involving Parasram, including one that expired in 2024. Officials said the prior records are part of the ongoing investigation.
The fire left crews unable to immediately reach the basement apartment. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said investigators would bring in cadaver dogs when the site was safe. Utility workers also had to shut off the gas line before crews could dig through the remains of the collapsed home. An excavator was being brought in to help reach the line from the street.
Neighbors described a sudden blast followed by flames and people fleeing the block. The explosion damaged the home so badly that firefighters could not treat it as a normal interior search. Instead, crews worked from the outside while police and fire officials tried to confirm who had escaped and whether anyone remained inside.
Officials said the exact cause of the explosion remains under investigation. By Thursday afternoon, the key questions were whether Parasram’s body was in the rubble, what substance was inside the canisters and how the fire ignited the gas-fed blast.
Author note: Last updated April 30, 2026.