Carmel, CA – A natural gas explosion leveled a long-vacant Carmel home late Monday morning and shattered windows on two nearby homes. The blast was heard blocks away.
A one-block area around the home at Third Avenue and Guadalupe Street was evacuated for about an hour to make sure gas in the area had dissipated, said Monterey fire Division Chief Felix Colello.
The violent explosion happened at 11:18 a.m., sending part of the roof over a truck belonging to a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. crew that was working on gas lines about 25 feet from the home, Colello said.
“It’s a miracle no one was hurt,” he said.
All that was left standing of the 600 square-foot, simple wood-frame home were interior walls.
The home apparently had filled with natural gas and something sparked the explosion, which was loud enough to be heard eight blocks away, Colello said.
Neighbors told fire officials the home hadn’t been occupied for about a dozen years, though it had active gas and electric service, he said.
Colello said he assumed PG&E and insurance investigators would be trying to nail down the precise cause of the explosion.
He said the PG&E service work being done nearby may have caused the gas buildup in the home, but that hasn’t been determined.
“We’re assuming that was the cause,” he said. “The ignition source, more than likely, was probably a water heater.”
There also may have been a gas leak inside the home, which filled the structure.
Fire Capt. Art Webb said, “When I arrived parts of the structure were in the street, on neighboring homes and draped over the power line,” he said.
Carmel Mayor Jason Burnett said he was going to meet with fire officials at the scene Monday afternoon. “Of course, we are trying to find out more,” he said.
The mayor said, “We’re lucky no one was hurt.”
The city of Monterey provides fire services in Carmel on a contract basis.