DETROIT – A young mother injured in an apartment explosion on Detroit’s west side spoke with Local 4 early Monday morning to explain what she experienced and witnessed.

Ashley Ridner lived in one of the apartments at the complex that exploded off Littlefield on March 31 just after 4 a.m. She lived there with her boyfriend and 5-month-old son.

Previous coverage: What we know about possible Metro Detroit explosion that triggered emergency alert

You can listen to the full interview at the end of this article.

“It sounded like a bomb,” she recalled.

Ridner mentioned her boyfriend complained about a gas smell before she fell asleep the night before the explosion.

She said the front door and back door of her apartment were blocked after the explosion, so they had to escape through the apartment window.

She injured her feet while getting out of the window, and her boyfriend had his arm injured while getting their son out to safety.

“It was hard to get out, but we got out,” she said.

Her boyfriend was sent to Henry Ford for treatment. Ridner said her son is okay and is staying with family.

Ridner said she saw one of her neighbors severely injured.

“He was scrapped up pretty bad, bleeding a lot,” she said.

“All our belongings are in the house. Our cars are destroyed.”

She said the white truck covered in bricks is her boyfriend’s truck, which he uses for work.

“That’s how he provides for us. Now we have to figure this all out.”

Detroit Fire Department investigating possible explosion at apartment complex (Copyright 2025 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.)

“Our whole life is in there. I don’t know what they expect us to do next,” she said.

“That’s the only thing that matters to me—my family’s okay.”

Hear her full interview below: