WATCH ABOVE: Exclusive bird’s-eye view of the house explosion aftermath at Sandy Lake in Sturgeon Lake from our Global 1 helicopter
EDMONTON — A propane furnace is believed to have sparked a fire and explosion that rocked the lakeside community of Sandy Lake Thursday morning.
“About quarter to seven, there was a very loud bang,” said Wayne Hilsendeger, a resident of the Pine Sands Estates.
“Then I heard glass falling on me, I was laying in bed. And then I felt a rush of air and my wife yelled something like, ‘Oh my God, what just happened?’
“She was in the bathroom and when she came out, I was climbing over glass trying to figure out what happened but I knew something very bad had happened.”
When he looked out his bedroom window, Hilsendeger said he saw flames “higher than the trees” coming from two properties away.
Early reports from Morinville RCMP suggested the explosion followed a fire. By the time firefighters arrived at the scene, they found a mobile home fully engulfed in flames.
Crews were able to put them out, then began to sift through the rubble.
“Very large debris field, obviously related to an explosion,” said Sturgeon County Fire Chief Pat Mahoney.
Broken glass, parts of trees, insulation and wood strewn were just some of what could be seen scattered across the area. Across the street from the home, the windows of a van were blown out.
Investigators have since confirmed the fire was not suspicious.
WATCH: An explosion tore apart a mobile home and rattled windows more than eight kilometres away. As Kent Morrison reports, it’s shocking no one was hurt.
It’s still not known how much damage the incident caused.
No one was injured in the blast. The homeowner was in Red Deer at the time of the incident.
Sandy Lake is located about 65 kilometres northwest of Edmonton and about 30 kilometres west of Morinville.
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