A house exploded in St. Paul’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood Friday morning, critically injuring the homeowner and sending a fireball into the sky that was visible from miles away.
Some 40 firefighters responded to the scene of the apparent gas explosion in the 600 block of Payne Avenue at about 8:30 a.m. One man who was inside the home was pulled from the wreckage and taken by ambulance to Regions Hospital.
The victim was able to talk to first responders, according to St. Paul Deputy Fire Chief Dave Berger. WCCO-TV reported that the victim was homeowner John Lundahl, 80.
A dog and cat were also found alive amid the wreckage.
While the cause of the explosion remained under investigation, fire department officials suspected that natural gas was to blame, Berger said.
Xcel Energy workers had gas and electric utilities shut down within a half hour, Berger added. Gas had to be shut off on the entire block as firefighters responded.
Debris flew into trees and was strewn about the East Side intersection at Payne Avenue and Edgerton Street. Windows in nearby properties and cars were shattered by the force of the explosion.
A handful of houses and properties nearby sustained severe damage, Berger noted, leaving 12 residents displaced.
In addition to the destroyed house, two others north of it and three businesses to the south were called off-limits until firefighters could evaluate the properties’ structural stability.
American Red Cross workers were on the scene Friday afternoon helping to secure temporary housing and other aid for at least nine people, according to Lynette Nyman, a spokeswoman for the organization.
Others in need of assistance may contact the Red Cross at 612-871-7676, Nyman said.
Jon Laboda was among those looking for a new place to stay. He lives directly behind the house decimated in the explosion and said he’d left just before it happened.
He stood staring at the giant hole left behind his home Friday morning, still reeling from the shock of what happened.
“I’m shook up,” he said.
Residents as far away as Roseville and north of Lake Phalen heard and felt the explosion, Berger said.
Ali Hussein, who lives across the street in an apartment building, said he woke to a thundering boom Friday morning.
“It sounded like a bomb going off,” Hussein said.
Erikka Delgado was at her grandmother’s house about five blocks away when she heard it.
“It was a big ol’ boom, like from a war zone or something,” the 21-year-old said, adding that the explosion caused her grandmother’s home to shake.
She and her grandmother were among those who gathered at the scene afterward. Crowds watched as firefighters continued to douse flames shooting from a gas line around 10 a.m. Friday.
Myk’schel Moore, who lives about a block away off Edgerton Street, said she sleeps on the second floor with her bedroom window facing the scene. The sound of the explosion made her jump, she said.
Home explosion in past 15 mins at corner of Payne and Edgerton in St. Paul. Saw explosion as I drove over Lafayette Bridge pic.twitter.com/OUV7lTokTc
— Andrew Krueger (@akpix) November 23, 2018
“My first reaction was to look out the window and I saw the big fireball in the sky, and I was like, ‘Damn, that’s an explosion,’ ” Moore said. “Like a volcano explosion, you know how like it comes up and explodes out? That’s what it looked like.”
She was at the scene when police arrived.
Jamell Jones, 14, and Isaiah Brown, 11, said they know the man who lives in the house. They often see him outside fixing or selling things as they walk to the nearby Quick Stop Market, they said.
Brown once bought a hoverboard from him, he said.
Jones was in his house about a half a block away when the noise woke him.
“I ran outside and seen the house was gone and stuff flying around in the air,” he said.
An occupant of a nearby business also was taken by ambulance to a hospital following the explosion, but the person appeared to be suffering from anxiety-related effects rather than physical injuries, Berger said.
A public works crew was expected to haul away debris and clear the streets Friday afternoon.