CRIME

911 Call: Powell ‘Exploded’ House

Social worker tried to warn authorities.

A social worker was on the line with a 911 dispatcher when Josh Powell set a huge fire in his home that killed both himself and his two sons. Elizabeth Griffin-Hall had gone to the Powell’s home to monitor a supervised visit between Powell and his two boys, who had been in government custody after the mysterious disappearance of their 28-year-old mother. The 911 call reveals that Powell wouldn’t let her in the house and that she tried frantically to warn authorities. “Nothing like this has ever happened before at these visitations,” she told the dispatcher. “I could hear one of the kids crying, and he still wouldn't let me in.” Griffin-Hall placed a second call moments later, in which she screamed, “He exploded the house! He exploded the house!”