ELBERT COUNTY, Colo. — Officials are investigating what led to a house explosion and fire in Elbert County early Sunday.
Kara Gerczynski, public information officer for the Elizabeth Fire Protection District, said the department received a call around 5 a.m. Sunday about a house explosion on Flicker Trail, near Colorado Highway 86 and County Road 21.
A neighbor, whose bedroom faces the home, heard the explosion. She said she heard screaming and called 911. Residents several blocks away — as far as half a mile — also reported hearing a very loud noise.
"We've had a lot of homeowners call in from this area saying that they heard the explosion and it rattled their windows," Gerczynski said.
When first responders arrived, the home was fully engulfed in fire, with flames 40 feet high, she said.
A portion of the house collapsed and a fire burned the rest, Gerczynski said. The fire came after the explosion. It's not yet known where the explosion happened in the house.
Gerczynski said four people were in the house at the time. Two of them were transported to a hospital and released later in the day. She said they had minor scrapes and bruises. One of them was thrown from the first floor into the basement and another had ringing in their ears.
The house was a total loss. It took about two hours to put the fire out.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation. Gerczynski said the house was fueled by natural gas and does not use propane in any capacity.
She added that the community was fortunate that this happened in the winter time, as the explosion could have ignited a wildfire in the summer.
Brighid Griffin, a senior at Elizabeth High School, was in the house when it exploded. She remembered waking up to the smell of natural gas, but not thinking much of it.
"And then, like, maybe five minutes after I laid down, I'm just falling down like two stories, still in bed," she said.
She said she didn't hear any explosion, but remembered a "pop" and then "just falling down."
Griffin, along with three others, were able to dig themselves out and escape the wreckage. She was visiting the house and didn't live there.
They noticed that the boiler room was on fire after the explosion, she said. Once they had all walked away from the house, it exploded again.
"And then that's where... the fire took off," she said.
She said she feels very lucky that she and the others are all OK.
"Not a single bone broken or anything," she said. "So pretty miraculous."
Elizabeth Fire Rescue, Elbert County Sheriff's Office, Franktown Fire Protection District, Rattlesnake Fire Protection and Kiowa Fire Protection responded to the fire.
This is a developing story and will be updated once more information is available.
