Red, White & Blue/Courtesy Photo
A house along Royal Tiger Road in Breckenridge exploded last night due to an apparent rupture in the home’s gas line, according to Jim Keating, chief at Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District. There were two injuries, but no fatalities.
Keating said that the department received numerous calls regarding an explosion at about 1:30 a.m. last night. Upon arrival on scene, firefighters found the home completely destroyed from the fire damage.
Firefighters made contact with two men who were inside sleeping at the time of the explosion. Keating said that one was taken to St. Anthony Summit Medical Center in Breckenridge with a broken arm along with burns and abrasions on his face. The other was initially taken to St. Anthony, but was subsequently transported to a hospital in Denver to treat a more serious back injury.
The explosion is believed to have been caused by snow and ice falling off the roof and breaking the outside gas meter attached to the home.
“Once they were able to get through the debris, they found the pipe was completely broken off at the gas meter on the ground,” said Keating. “That must have occurred sometime in the evening when the occupants were unaware. The gas leaked into the internal part of the home in the crawl space, found an ignition source and caused an explosion.”
Breckenridge Councilman Dick Carleton said that the explosion was felt around the neighborhood.
“I live in the neighborhood,” said Carleton. “I was asleep, but it woke us all up. It knocked pictures off the walls of several houses on our block.” Carleton went on to say that following the explosion several neighbors gathered outside the house, where they saw the two men who were inside the house walking around and talking. “They were obviously severely shaken, but for the magnitude of the explosion amazingly okay…they’re good guys and members of our community, and I’m just thankful they’re okay.”
Keating said that while most of the damage was contained to the house, the explosion also blew out some windows on the house next door and caused outside damage from debris.
This story will be updated as more details become available.