Six people were injured after a house explosion destroyed four homes in Monterey Park – Calgary

Monterey Park residents are still in disbelief after a house explosion rocked the northeast Calgary community Saturday evening, injuring six people and rendering several townhomes uninhabitable.

“Boom. Boom,” said nearby resident Vanshika Taneja on Sunday in front of the destroyed houses. “Our house shook and all the other houses, we all felt it. It felt like an earthquake.”

Calgary Fire Department Public Information Officer Carol Henke said crews responded to reports of an explosion and house fire at the Las Americas Villas on Saturday evening around 11 p.m.

Upon arrival, crews immediately called a second alarm due to the size 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 extinguish hot spots Sunday morning as crews were on scene investigating the cause of the explosion.

“These types of events are incredibly rare,” Henke said when asked how often these types of fires occur. “We don’t see this very often at all and it doesn’t appear at this time that it has anything to do with natural gas.”

Residents were still shocked Sunday as they surveyed the damage and reported what they saw and heard.

Receive the latest national news

For news affecting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts sent directly to you as they happen.

Lyla Boyden told Global News that her husband heard the explosion.

“It’s terrible. It was terrifying last night to see the chaos… This is devastating for all the families involved. That was actually disturbing, seeing people on stretchers, seeing 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 was shaking.

“We came outside and saw big flames. The middle house was engulfed in flames and within minutes the other two houses caught fire.”

The cause is still under investigation.

– wwith files from Global News’ Craig Momney

&copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.