A house in Long Beach was destroyed in an explosion that also damaged another structure on the property Monday morning.
The blast occurred shortly after 11 a.m. in an un-permitted section at the back of a home in the 2800 block of Gale Avenue, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
The Long Beach Post reports that the blast was “likely related to a gas leak from an appliance” and “completely destroyed” the back house of the property while minorly damaging the front structure.
The LBPD could not confirm any injuries to KTLA, but the Post added that one person, said to be a man in his 30s, was taken to a trauma burn center. His condition was not known.
KTLA 5’s Rich Prickett observed firefighters combing through the wreckage at “what appears to be some sort of addition” to the residence but said it appeared that no one was present in the part of the house at the time of the explosion.
“You can see just how violent the explosion was, scattering debris across multiple properties,” Prickett said.
Neighbors, likely stunned at the sight of the destroyed house, gathered at the scene. Prickett said arson investigators were also present.
“We just heard a big ‘thump’ like something hit our house,” said one nearby resident, identified only as Choy. “So we got up, saw that everyone was okay and then checked the news and saw no earthquake…so we didn’t know what it was.”
Choy said he and his family used the circling helicopters to help pinpoint where the boom came from, and they were shocked at the what they found.
“We just [happened upon] this devastation…I hope everybody that got hurt survives,” he said.
The family of the victim is believed to live next door to where the explosion occurred; neighbors told KTLA that the victim’s brother lives in the adjacent home.
The area of Gale Avenue and West 28th Street was blocked for the investigation.
Sofia Pop Perez contributed to this report.