Posted on 10/14/2004 11:26:46 AM PDT by sheikdetailfeather
Investigators: Cause Of Fatal Car Explosion Unknown
POSTED: 6:39 am EDT October 14, 2004 UPDATED: 12:46 pm EDT October 14, 2004
KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Kissimmee police and fire investigators are trying to figure out what caused a car to explode, killing the driver. The car was parked at a Wal-Mart near the Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee.
Matt Allison's family is struggling to comprehend the incomprehensible.
"He's gonna be greatly missed," says Bill Toler, Allison's brother-in-law.
One minute the 33-year-old husband and stepfather of two was alive and well at the 24-hour Wal-Mart. The next minute, flames consumed him and his car.
"When I got so close, I was feeling the heat. The car was making noise like it was going to blow," says eyewitness Danny Saldago.
Eyewitnesses say they saw Allison in the moments before his death walking towards his Ford Taurus. Moments later, the car exploded.
Matt Allison
"What we heard was a loud bang, and when we turn around our friends said, 'Look, look, the car's on fire,'" says eyewitness Javier Castro. "And then the car was completely on fire."
"The windows just blew out and the person was engulfed in flames very quickly," says Chief Robert King, Kissimmee Fire Department.
State investigators worked through the night to figure out what happened. They'll be analyzing evidence they took from the car and they're waiting for autopsy results. They say they've ruled out suicide and homicide and that this was most likely an awful accident.
"We've looked at the scene. We have a good hypothesis about what we think happened here," says Detective Juan Bailey, State Fire Marshal's Office. "This investigation is still unfolding."
That means Allison's family is enduring an agonizing wait for answers just hours after hearing the worst news they could ever imagine.
"I hope he can hear us and knows that we all love him, that we're all gonna miss him very much," says Toler.
Investigators say it'll take several days before they pinpoint a cause, but they say it's possible they'll never know the full story. The full story may have died along with Allison.
Copyright 2004 by wftv.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Prayer bump!!
I join with the others here praying for you and all the family. May God give you peace and bless you.
Prayer bump!!
May the Holy Spirit give you comfort as He takes Matt in His arms. God Bless you and your family.
Thanking Gal, don't you think I have been through enough to actually have people doubt who I am. Why would I give out my email address as well as my website? If you will go to wftv.com there is a picture of Matt and an article about the accident. Then visit my brain tumor website and there are pictures of my family along with a memorial to Matt. I am the real deal. I am the grieving wife of a man I loved more than life itself. I thank each and everyone who has offered me up in prayers, but for those who do not believe I am who I say I am, I can give you every single detail of the night the detectives showed up at my door, the horror of driving to the scene, the day of the funeral, taking flowers out to the scene, the fact that there was nothing left of him to have buried and we had to have him cremated. I can give you my home address, my phone number and I've already given you my email address. I also have another screen name Hockkey47sbaby1@aol.com because Matt's screen name was Hockkey47. If you check that screen name out, you'll see in my profile where I talk about Matt, give our wedding day of January 11, 2003. Matt and I had been together since December of 2000. I can't believe that anyone would come on this board looking and make up a story about being someone they are not. I am Carol Denise Allison and I'm the proudest woman in the world to have been married to Matthew Jason Allison. (Born 5/29/72 died 10/13/04).
P.S., I have also given this site to Matt's sister as well as other family members. 99% of the posters on here have been extremely kind and comforting with their prayers and thoughts. For the others, please be kind to us. If you haven't suffered a tragic sudden loss like we are going through, you don't understand our need to keep Matt's good name and character protected. It is a mission I am. I protected him in life and I will protect him in death. I was a single mom when I met Matt and was so scared of getting involved with him...the one thing I asked him is if I gave him my heart, he had to protect it with everything he had. Well for four years, I was treated like the most beautiful princess in the world. On our bathroom mirror, there is still a note I wrote to him last week in my lipstick that says "Mr. Allison, you are my everything, thank you for loving me." Mrs. Allison, "that's Me"". We had a true and genuine love. Even my grief therapist said that she believes we were soulmates. So since Matt protected my heart for the short time we had been together, I am protecting him now with every ounce of my being. Again, thank you all to have listened to my grieving, my anger, and my pain. It helps so much to have people to talk to. I have bought 4 books on losing your spouse, being a young widow, grief, etc., but sometimes hearing from real live people help so much more. Please continue to raise our family up in prayer. Again, for those non-believers, I would be happy to send privately to you, the eulogy I read as well as the eulogy my 16 year old son read at Matt's funeral. I think by reading the words of a broken hearted 16 year old boy, would make you truly believe that I am who I say I am. I don't know how else to prove it.
http://www.legacy.com/orlandosentinel/Guestbook.asp?Page=Guestbook&PersonID=2726648
Another link to Matt's guestbook from the Orlando Sentinel. There you'll find postings from me with my email address as well as entries directed to me. Please do not disbelieve who I am. I wouldn't have gone through all of this trouble to get Matt's story out if I was a fraud. As far as the items in the car, Matt and I had several gas cans in the car because we filled them up for the hurricane. We also had small propane tanks for our Coleman Grill to Go. I know of only one gasoline tank that was remaining in the car and I didn't know the propane tanks were still there. I do remember last week though, the car reeked of gas so badly, that on Saturday, we had to open the trunk because the inside of the car smelled so strongly of gas. Just another theory that me and his family are trying to decipher. There are so many unanswered questions, so many possibilities, but does it really change anything? My beautiful Matthew is now with God and I'm left alone to carry on in this world without him. I'm sure I'll hear from a lot of hurtful people, but like my Pastor told me the day after Matt died, people will say things they don't intentionally mean to say that cause hurt. So I try to do the right thing and ignore the hurtful comments as long as they are not attacking Matt. They can say what they want about me, about not believing who I am, but I won't stand by and allow Matt to be attacked by anyone. My therapist yesterday said I am in the "anger" mode of the grief process, and let me tell you, I am ANGRY! I feel like a time bomb about ready to explode (forgive the wording). Sorry for so many postings this morning, as you can see I'm up early again and the house is dark and empty. This has become my venting area. Thank you again for all your listening and prayers.
What can I do to prove to you lady who I am? go to my website www.carolsacousticneuromastory.com, go to the contact button and it will bring up my email address, the same email address I'm using in here. Go to his obituary in the Orlando Sentinel. I think you are a very cruel and hurtful person and I pray that you NEVER EVER experience what I'm going through.
Natural as is lighter than air, but can still get trapped in basements,etc.
Propane or LP gas is heavier than air.
Either one is dangerous but LP is much more so.
Carolyn
>> Natural gas is heavier than air and pools in basements and things like that.
I believe Natural Gas is generally lighter than air. It consists primarily of Methane, CH4, which has a molecular weight 16 g/mol. For reference, air has an average molecular weight of approximately 29. Propane, C3H8, has a molecular weight of 44 and is heavier than air.
Please stay off this thread.
No, they're close though - one's a bean and the other's a lemon.
May the comfort only the Good Master can bring surround you and yours during your time of sorrow.
God bless and keep you,
Az
Mob hit.
My sincere sympathies and prayers go out to you and your children. You definitely have friends here who care about you and wish you well. Please keep us all informed.
First, please accept my sincere condolences on your loss. Second, the answer to your question is "nothing". Trolls have appeared on FreeRepublic before claiming to be somebody they're not, resulting in an arguably justified amount of skepticism here when any new person posts. (Believe me I know, for I am a new poster myself).
You have nothing to "prove", and conversing with trolls only brings you down to the troll's level and feeds its ego. All I can advise you to do is to ignore the idiots and tell your story (if you want to) as best you can.
Welcome to FreeRepublic.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.