Shortly after 4:00 a.m. of Friday a house in Riverside, Calif., exploded with such force that it was heard miles away and fire was spread to the adjacent houses. The house was vacant and undergoing renovation at the time so nobody was hurt, according to the Associated Press.
By the time that firefighters were able to arrive on the scene the home had been "completely blown up," according to Fire Capt. Bruce Vanderhorst. The house was almost completely vanished with some debris spread around it. Eight fire engines had to be called in to deal with the fire coming out of a gas meter, according to the Associated Press.
"It's unfortunate someone's house blew up, few houses were damaged," Vanderhorst told KABC-TV. "But we're also very relieved that no one was injured, and no firefighters were injured."
Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the explosion. Speculation is leaning toward a gas explosion. Vanderhorst believed that since the house was vacant the home was able to fill up with gas without anyone detecting it, eventually something set off the gas, the Associated Press reports.
"We heard an explosion, and we got out of our bed, and when I came into the front room, both windows on that side of the house, the far side of the house, nothing but fire and flames," Wayne Keller, a neighbor whose house was badly damaged in the blast, told KABC-TV.
In order to fight the fire that had spread to the Kellers' home firefighters were forced to open up the roof making the home uninhabitable, according to the Associated Press.
"It was mayhem," Keller said. "You could hear the gas line just going like crazy."
The enormous blast shook nearby homes and convinced neighbors that it might have been a natural disaster.
"I thought it was an earthquake," Mary Holley told the Riverside Press-Enterprise. "My son said it sounded like a car hitting our home."
