Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — Investigators are trying to determine why a car owned by a 91-year-old suffered explosion damage outside of a home on North Hartford Avenue on the West Side Tuesday morning.

A Youngstown police detective went to Hartford Avenue to assist firefighters at the scene of a possible explosion. They found a 2020 Buick Envision with explosion damage, a police report states.

The vehicle was not on fire when the officer arrived, but it had extensive “blast damage to the rear, right side of the car,” the report states.

Fire investigator Chris Hodge arrived before the police detective. The detective spoke with the owner, who recently had surgery. He said he heard a loud explosion after he had fallen asleep about 2 a.m. but because of his medication, he has trouble relating to the passage of time, the report states.

He called 911 at 9 a.m. Tuesday when he fully woke up and realized the pictures were knocked off the wall of his home. He was unaware of the car damage until advised of it by firefighters, he said.

The crime lab and bomb squad responded to investigate the scene. Neighbors reported hearing a loud explosion about 3 a.m., but no one noticed any fire. The owner said he had not driven the car in a while, but a woman drove it Saturday to buy items for the car’s owner, and the car worked fine then. The vehicle was towed for further arson investigation, the report states.