A woman ‘miraculously’ escaped with her life after a gas explosion occurred at her residence while she was still inside.
The incident occurred on Wednesday (Feb. 9) morning on 6th Ave., and saw a response from Fernie Fire and Rescue, RCMP and ambulance services.
“There was a resident in the house at the time of the explosion, but (she) managed to miraculously crawl out of the house after the explosion,” said fire chief Brendan Morgan.
The firefighters heard the boom of the explosion from their department building on 3rd Ave., and got the call right after, at 10:19 a.m., for a structure fire.
“We arrived on scene, extinguished the fire, assured that there was no one else in the house.”
Though the human resident made it out alive, sadly two pets perished in the incident.
“She did happen to lose two pets, a dog and a cat.”
The owner of the home was also around when the explosion occurred. He was working on the home, and was outside when the explosion happened. He had some minor abrasions to the face, Morgan said, but was otherwise uninjured.
The fire rescue response included 15 firefighters, two pump-vehicles and four other vehicles. When they arrived on scene, the building was fully engulfed in flame. They protected the exposed homes on both sides of the burning building. A home in the area took slight damage to the windows, according to Morgan.
Fernie Fire and Rescue will be working with FortisBC to investigate what caused the gas explosion, which was felt as far away as West Fernie.
“My house shook,” said neighbour Kevin Fraser, who lives a few houses down.
Amanda Musso was drinking coffee in her apartment on top of a shop across Crowsnest Hwy when she felt the force.
“We were just sitting having coffee, and it felt like somebody hit the house with their car,” she said.
The block where the incident occurred on 6th Ave. between 5th St. and 6th St. was closed to traffic while emergency responders tackled the fire and investigated the cause.
“It was a very lucky situation in that the resident, tenant, was able to self-rescue after the explosion,” Morgan said.
“All in all, great save.”
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