I don't see any significance in the "flashes" either. If those are supposed to be explosives going off, then there will a huge set of evidence accompanying those reports, i.e. barotrauma, shrapnel injury, blast trauma of varying degrees, symptoms that generally match with close proximity to explosive detonations and were not part of any injury documented during the entirety of the event.
This was an uncontrolled environment, with no precautions in place there is no way you could have had explosives going off in the middle of an urban setting without seeing some form of injury to match. There are documented incidents of bystanders being seriously injured or killed in controlled demolitions, albeit rare, when the safety precautions were inadequate.