A 21-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man were seriously injured when their house in Arizona inexplicably exploded Wednesday evening.
Peoria Fire Department Capt. Rob Brewster said to NBC that the couple was taken to the hospital around 10 p.m. local time, shortly after the blast. They were deemed in “critical condition” with burns over 30 percent to 50 percent of their bodies, emergency responders said.
Mr. Brewster said they’re not sure why the explosion occurred, NBC reported.
Nearby neighbors told local television station KPNX that the blast rocked so hard, they thought it was an earthquake.
“There was a Peoria police officer who was doing some paperwork adjacent to the house when the explosion occurred,” Mr. Brewster said, in the NBC report. “So he witnessed the two residents make it out and collapse. So he was able to assist them.”
No other properties in the neighborhood were damaged. Investigators did find that electrical wires were running all through the house, and that it was served by natural gas.
“But we’re not able to determine if that was the cause of the explosion,” Mr. Brewster said, of the natural gas link.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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