A New Jersey woman destroyed her house, damaged that of a neighbor, and killed herself and dozens of cats by setting off an explosion in a standoff over her eviction.

The deceased woman, whom authorities had not named as of Thursday afternoon, was served an eviction notice but refused to leave her Roosevelt, New Jersey, home, and threatened to blow up the building before building a barricade.

As a result, the woman’s neighbors were evacuated for their own safety.

The woman was the only human occupant of the residence at the time of the blast. Law enforcement said the woman let the gas from the stove build up before sparking the conflagration.

Neighbors indicated that the woman owned 30 cats, all of which died with her. One neighboring house was damaged by the fire from the blown-up building.

“I have no house now,” neighbor Emma Quackenbush told WCBS-TV, the New York City CBS affiliate.

Ms. Quackenbush had lived in her own residence for 22 years, and was not home when the blast went off at around 11 a.m. Wednesday.
“It looks unbelievable. The other house, I don’t even think it’s there. I can’t go back in. I can’t go in there until they investigate,” Ms. Quackenbush told News 12 New Jersey.

Other neighbors told WKXW-FM, a Trenton, New Jersey radio station, that the woman’s boyfriend owned the destroyed house but had been trying to evict her so as to sell the property for years. However, eviction freezes during the coronavirus pandemic had temporarily prevented him from doing so.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.