Neighbours were shaken from their sleep as a southeast Calgary home inexplicably exploded, flattening the home and damaging those surrounding the site.
Fire crews responded to multiple reports a home in the 1400 block of Pennsburg Dr. SE ruptured just after 4 a.m. yesterday, as debris flew across the street damaging several cars and others homes, leaving a bare foundation in its wake.
Dharmendra Vijay, his wife and two kids were asleep when the neighbouring home exploded.
“The entire house shook and everything just went flying across the house. We’re very lucky our bedrooms are on the other side of the house and no one was hurt,” Vijay said.
“We just completely renovated the house and now everything is damaged.”
Cameron Kardash was about to leave his home for work when the home detonated.
“I just saw a burst of orange flames through my window and I dove on the ground. My first instinct was to run, but I had nowhere to go,” he said, adding he feels lucky to be alive.
“If I didn’t stop to make some breakfast for myself, I could have been outside when it happened. Anyone outside would have definitely got hurt.”
Neighbours said no one has been around the home for the last couple of weeks, and fire spokesperson Jeff Budai believes nobody was injured.
“That’s the challenging part because the majority of the neighbours believe the house was vacant, but we can never be sure,” Budai said.
“It’s hard to say what caused the explosion and we probably won’t know until (today) after we go through what’s left.”
