PRINCETON, Ind. — Two people were reportedly injured when a house exploded in Princeton, Indiana Tuesday.
The explosion happened around 11:30 a.m. in a house that is divided into apartments at Clark and Hart streets in Princeton. Video from a doorbell camera across the street shows the top half of the home explode into a ball of fire.
Two people were taken to the hospital by ambulance with burn injuries, firefighters said. Fire investigators determined the cause of the fire to be a natural gas explosion.
Two of the people who live in the house told WFIE-TV in Evansville a maintenance man was in the home trying to get the heater to work before the explosion occurred.
“Woke up to the smell of gas. Something told me to leave,” said Diaghman Gibson. "So I got up and got ready, talked to the maintenance man, told him I was leaving, and to lock up whenever they was done, and I’d be back in a little bit.”
Workers from both CenterPoint and Duke Energy were on the scene after the explosion.
Donnie Hyatt told WFIE his grandparents and several family members lived in the home. He said he talked with two uncles who live in the home and were at the scene and hoped to check on his grandmother.
"It's a scary moment when you find out your grandmother's place is on fire and the first thing you need to think of is if they're OK," Hyatt said. "It's hard not to tear up, because it could have been a different situation."
Hyatt said his brother's girlfriend was injured by a falling beam and was taken to the hospital.
Firefighters said "light to moderate fire conditions" were contained on the second floor of the home.
Princeton is in Gibson County, about 40 miles north of Evansville.
