Church Members Respond to Plano Blast

In a generally quiet neighborhood at 4:40 pm on Monday, July 12, 2021,  a home in Plano, Texas, exploded. Within seconds the home was reduced to a pile of sticks. There was one adult male in the home at the time of the explosion who was rushed to a local hospital.  Members of our church living near or on the street reached out to help those impacted.

Social media platforms began buzzing with people who heard or felt the explosion, even a mile away from the incident, while closer to the explosion there is fear that some homes may have shifted on their foundations from the impact of the blast.

Abigail Bostrom, a neighbor and member of the Plano First congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, lives just a few houses down from where the explosion occurred. She was in her driveway with her children when the explosion happened. “I heard the boom and it was deafening. I put my kids in my house and ran down the street to see what happened and saw that the house was literally gone. The neighbors across the street were on the phone with 911, and all of the windows on the front of their house had been shattered from the blast.”

The Jagielski family, who lives next door to the home that exploded had just brought their six-year-old home from having minor surgery. The family was gathered around him getting him settled into bed when the two nearly simultaneous blasts occurred. The room they were in happened to be the closest room to the explosion next door. “From chatting with both parents, there was no flash, and there were two explosions,” said Mae Reedy, a longtime family friend. “The first one caught their attention, and as the husband turned toward the window, and the mother sat shielding her children, the second one went off, and their house began collapsing in on them.”

Reedy continued, “The father was injured the worst and immediately underwent emergency surgery to remove glass and shrapnel from his abdomen. The mother was in serious condition with many glass punctures and injuries. Their children were all injured as well but have been released.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which the Jagielski’s friend Mae Reedy is a member, was ready with any assistance that they could provide. On Wednesday, Jenn Jagielski thought of their piano, a family heirloom that she was hoping could be recovered. With the permission of the Jagielski’s and the Plano Fire Chief, members of The Church were allowed to go into the Jagielski home and hopefully recover their piano.

The reason why the piano was so important to Jenn Jagielski is that her grandmother wanted to take piano lessons her whole life, but her family never had the money. Her grandmother worked for Social Security into her 70s and saved a little bit from every paycheck. When she was 80 she finally bought this piano and bought herself some lessons. She always called Jenn her little songbird and gave Jenn the piano before she passed away. Jenn was pregnant with her six-year-old, the one that she shielded from the explosion when she got the piano. He has always loved the piano and was the one that asked about it after they were in the hospital. 

“When I entered the home and witnessed the devastation, I tried to imagine what it must have been like to be at home enjoying your evening when the unbelievable happened. I prayed the family would be OK, both physically and emotionally,” said volunteer Frank McKee of the Plano First Ward.

Volunteer Ken Bauer added, “How could anyone survive in that room a mere few feet away from the blast? My only thought was that this family was in an envelope of protection!”

The piano was moved from their severely damaged home to a controlled atmosphere where it will be cleaned and serviced and held for the Jagielski family until they are ready to take it back home. “Music is an important part of their family, and Jenn feels like it will provide needed therapy for their family in the coming months,” said Mae Reedy.

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Plano is a good, kind, and strong community with friends, neighbors, community members, civic organizations, and churches who are ready with clothing, toiletries, food, money, toys, manual labor, and whatever else might be needed to help those who were affected by this tragic event. “When you receive a call for help no matter the time or the circumstances you feel a desire to assist and are grateful for the opportunity to give service,” said Bishop Bill Berry at the scene of the devastation.

Mae Reedy also set up a GoFundMe for the Jagielski family recovery: https://www.gofundme.com/f/jagielski-family-recovery-fund?member=12607833&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer