Staff photo / Brandon Cantwell The house at the corner of East Montrose Street and Northlawn Drive in Liberty, the site of a June 7 explosion, has been fenced off to secure it and prevent trespassers. A four-wheeler, trailer, SUV and lawn mower were reported stolen from the property following the incident, with only several items having been recovered thus far, according to police Chief Toby Meloro.

LIBERTY — Township fire officials say a house explosion is still under investigation a month after it shook the area.

Liberty fire Chief Doug Theobald said Monday that he wouldn’t be able to reveal many developments about the June 7 explosion that killed one and left two — an unnamed man and 4-year old — in critical condition, because the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the State Fire Marshal have not released their preliminary findings.

“The last I talked to them, they were still investigating, they were still interviewing — I don’t know if they’ve completed their interviews,” Theobald said. “Part of the problem is the mother is still actively with her child, and it has made it a little bit more complicated to interview her.”

Theobald said the only name his department has released is Justin Braun, 34, who died as a result of the explosion.

“It has not been closed out in any form or fashion as of yet; the State Fire Marshal who was investigating, I believe it was out of the Akron area — not our local State Fire Marshal,” Theobald said. “The ATF was definitely out of the Akron area; they have not reached back.”

Theobald said both the child and the man were still hospitalized, but he had heard from the man’s parents that he was still undergoing treatment.

Police Chief Toby Meloro reported that the man was out of intensive care, but has intense burns on his body.

It could take “up to a year” before either organization releases its reports on the incident, Theobald said, referencing his previous involvement with them on incidents like other fatal fires.

He added that neither organization has reached out to their department for any further information.

“I think they’re waiting to see what the demolition of the house might bring; if they could see some areas underneath that,” Theobald said.

Theobald said that since items — a four-wheeler, lawn mower and an SUV, as well as a trailer — were stolen from the property, they’ve been working with its insurance agent to secure the area with a fence. It was also put up to protect the residents, so they weren’t going in and out of a structurally unsound house.

Meloro said the police department has recovered the trailer, SUV and four-wheeler.

Theobald said the fire department brought in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) teams that were optional for their employees to go through, as they recognized the injuries from the incident were “pretty traumatic.”

“Our goal was to ensure their mental health; I mean, we’re no different than anyone else — that’s hard,” Theobald said. “We want to make sure that their mental health is in good condition from the type of stress calls.”

Fire crews were called just before 9:30 p.m. to the home at the corner of East Montrose Street and Northlawn Drive, which had a large gap in the front because of the explosion. Theobald said at a June 9 regular trustees meeting that an initial rescue attempt was called off by the ATF because of live ammunition and fireworks inside the house.

Residents in other parts of Liberty, as well as Girard, Hubbard and Youngstown, heard the explosion and felt their homes shaking, reports state.

An investigation into the explosion by the State Fire Marshal’s Fire and Explosion Investigations Bureau (FEIB) revealed occupants of the home had been manufacturing homemade fireworks in the home’s garage, according to a June 9 news release.