Sisters who lost parents in house explosion try to cope with tragedy

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The house explosion that killed Bruce and Kathy Dominguez last Wednesday has left their three daughters in heartache.

"The three of us have gotten a lot closer," said Joice Dominguez. "I guess it was terrible circumstances to get closer, but we're all helping each other."

The family built the Orion Township home themselves. Oakland County investigators have not ruled a cause for the house explosion.

"They loved their German shepherd like she was our sister, our mom loved the broncos and our dad was a caring father who built that house just for us," said Angelyn Dominguez.

"Mom was the most caring person in the entire world," said Joice.

Bruce, a Marine who served three tours in Vietnam, lived in the home with Kathy and their middle child Kymberly. She was the only survivor of the explosion.

"Kymberly was rescued by a heroic neighbor as she was not able to safely exit the home on her own," said Angelyn. "She did not run out before the explosion. She is doing very well physically but obviously is and will be dealing with this tragedy for some time to come,"

"My dad did own a few weapons but he kept them in the gun safe," Joice said. "He never did load ammunition in the basement. We didn't have a basement; we had a crawl space,"

Investigators have now ruled out arson as a cause. They also said that while they were patrolling Monday morning, they caught trespassers on the property robbing the family's barn of tools and other equipment. No one was arrested.

The family is asking for their privacy.

"Please show respect for our loss and our family by not driving passed our home just to stake out and take photos," said Angelyn.

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They also thank everyone for the overwhelming support. A GoFundMe account set up for the family has raised more than $22,000.

"One of the most shocking parts about this is all the support from strangers, and all the people that I haven't seen since middle school," Angelyn said. "And from just random people that feel for us. I can't imagine how this is. It's been incredible. Overwhelming,"

They are inviting everyone to a pubic visitation this Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Woodside bible church.