Stafford Township, NJ – A natural gas explosion that ripped a house apart injured five utility workers this morning and forced evacuations in Stafford Township, authorities said.
The gas explosion occurred at a home on Oak Avenue near Route 9, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. Homes in the immediate vicinity were evacuated as a precaution, he said.
New Jersey Natural Gas Co. spokesman Michael Kinney said crews were responding to a report of a natural gas leak when the explosion occurred. He said five gas company employees were hurt.
At least two of those injured were airlifted to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center’s Trauma Unit, according to Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy. NBC10 reported that one person suffered extremely critical injuries and required CPR at the scene.
A neighbor told the news website that gas crews were working on a home around 10:30 a.m. when the explosion occurred.
Kim McElwee, who lives around the corner from the house, said she was watching television between 10 and 10:30 a.m. When she heard a “big Kaboom!” She said the force was enough to lift her feet off the floor, shake her house and throw items off her mantle.
“It was scary,” she said.
She said she initially thought a car had crashed through her house and her daughter, who was on the second floor, came running down the stairs out of fear a tree had fallen on the house.