This has happened to me a few times now on regular residential lots with the maintenance troubles lot challenge. I didn't witness the explosion and couldn't find the broken item. I tried traveling elsewhere and back. I tried using bb.enablefreebuild to delete appliances and try new ones. I tried traveling to a rental unit I owned (event wasn't present unless on home lot.) I do have an active holiday this time but unsure if that could affect the event.
I did have the cursed book on this same lot and was able to find and clear the event as expected. It seems to be specifically the explosive malfunction event that gives me trouble.
