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Crews Find Body Inside Home After Fire, Explosion In East Brunswick

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- One person is dead after an explosion that leveled a home in East Brunswick.

The explosion rocked the quiet neighborhood just after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"The flames were like 50 feet in the air," neighbor Sal Malfitano said.

Fire crews sifted through the smoldering rubble of the home on Agate Road through midday Wednesday before discovering the body, CBS 2's Christine Sloan reported.

Authorities have not released the homeowner's name, but friends identified him as Terry Punia, who lived in the house alone since his divorce several years ago, Sloan reported.

Friends said he was a photographer who worked with famous musicians starting back in 1970s.

"Terry was a music and arts preservationist, photographer, a videographer," said friend Jim Davison.

Davison said he and Punia grew up together.

"His house was full of that work of people that we traveled together, following people like Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones," he said. "When we were kids, and then for years, he worked with Les Paul, the guitarist, recording his shows at the Iridium in New York and Fat Tuesdays."

"It is very sad," said neighbor Roy Russo. "He is a very nice guy. He is a guy who loved to just garden in the back and is friendly with everybody."

Investigators are still determining how it all started and have closed off the property with crime tape.

"Preliminarily, we have determined that there was an explosion," Carey said. "However, we have no reason to believe that the home was targeted or that the public is at risk at this time."

CBS 2 has learned two of the homeowner's cars and a motorcycle were parked down the street and a neighbor was told to watch them, Sloan reported.

Punia's attorney said he had dealt with a lot of losses in his life, including his parents.

"He had some problems. Terry was, I don't know I am not a doctor," attorney Alan Kosner said.

The arson unit was continuing its search through the rubble Wednesday evening, trying to determine how the fire started.

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