ROCHESTER, N.Y. — An investigation is underway after a house explosion on Lake Avenue near Augustine Street.
What we know
According to Lt. Howard Villegas from the Rochester Fire Department, the call came in at around 12:18 p.m. Tuesday for reports of a house explosion.
He said once crews got there, it was a confirmed house explosion. He also said it was quickly upgraded to a second-alarm as the walls on fire were on top of homes next door.
Villegas said he doesn’t know if anyone is inside at this time as they haven’t been through the entire home. He said there have been reports everyone got out, but they are still working to confirm.
The cause of the explosion is unknown. Villegas said it will take awhile to investigate and figure out what led to the explosion.
Villegas said RFD’s specialty company “structural collapse” was called to the scene. He said anytime something like this happens, they have to call them to make sure crews are investigating in a safe environment.
According to Villegas, about 80 people are at the scene helping.
Damages to the home
Villegas said the walls of the house buckled outward, and the first floor sealing seems to be holding up the attic floor. He also says the third floor seems to have buckled, creating a peak, and the roofing material was blown off the home.
Take a look at the scene:
Neighbors recount moment it happened
Chris Hirsch, a neighbor, said he was sleeping when he heard what sounded like a car or something hitting a house. He said he went outside and saw a bunch of glass and debris all over.
Hirsch said they then went over to the house yelling to see if anyone was inside. He said a fire then started.
According to Hirsch, the owner of the house lives out of state.
Click here to watch the interview with Chris Hirsch.
Doug, who lives across the street from the house, said he looked out his window to see the house nearly destroyed. He said he has lived in his apartment on Lake Avenue for 30 years, but didn’t know the people living in the house.
The man said when he heard an explosion, he went outside to see some fire and called the fire department. He said he couldn’t see anyone in the house.
More photos from the scene
This is a developing story. News10NBC is currently working to get information from all responding agencies. This story will be updated as we learn more.
The post ‘Sounded like a car hit the house’: Witness recounts house explosion in Rochester appeared first on WHEC.com.
