6 people injured after house explosion destroys 4 homes in Monterey Park – Calgary
Monterey Park residents still in disbelief after a house explosion shook the northeast Calgary community Saturday night, leaving six people injured and several townhouses uninhabitable.
“Boom. Boom,” Vanshika Taneja, a nearby resident, said in front of the destroyed houses on Sunday. “Our house shook and all the other houses, we all felt it. It was like an earthquake.
Carol Henke, public information officer for the Calgary Fire Department, said crews responded to reports of an explosion and fire at a home at Las Americas Villas around 11 p.m. Saturday evening.
Upon arrival, crews immediately sounded a second alarm due to the magnitude of the fire. Six people were taken to hospital: one in life-threatening condition, one in serious condition and four in stable condition. A cat was also rescued by firefighters.
Firefighters continued to neutralize hot spots Sunday morning as crews were on scene investigating the cause of the explosion.
“This type of event is incredibly rare,” Henke said when asked how common these types of fires are. “We don’t see this very often and it doesn’t appear to have anything to do with natural gas at this point.”
Damage from a house explosion in Monterey Park was noted on Sunday, October 6, 2024.
Craig Momney
Residents were still shaken Sunday as they surveyed the damage and recounted what they saw and heard.
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Lyla Boyden told Global News her husband heard the explosion.
“It’s horrible. It was terrifying last night to see the chaos… It’s devastating for all the families involved. It was actually upsetting to see people put on stretchers, to see people bleeding. There was glass that was probably 100 feet away from the units.
Gemmaricka Velasco lives across the street. She said the explosion was terrifying for her and her daughter.
“We are really so scared, so scared.”
Babar Kahn, who lives a few houses away, said the explosion woke him up – his own house shook.
“We went out and saw big flames. The middle house was on fire, then within minutes the other two houses were on fire.
The cause remains under investigation.
–wwith files from Craig Momney of Global News
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
