Neighbour heard screams, shattering glass after south Edmonton house explosion

Emergency crews remained on scene Wednesday morning after a house explosion in south Edmonton Tuesday evening.

The Walker Lakes home, in the area of 58 Street and 18 Avenue SW, remained blocked off by a fence as police, fire and the hazmat team worked to figure out what caused the blast.

Feroza Anthony said she was sitting in her house having tea when she heard the explosion, followed by shattering glass. She immediately called 911 then ran outside to see what was going on. She said she could hear screams coming from inside the house.

“He looked like his skin from face, arms, front and legs were really red. No clothes whatsoever, burned right off,” said Anthony, who saw a man run out of the house following the explosion.

Two men were sent to hospital with serious burns when the explosion rocked the south Edmonton neighbourhood shortly after 5 p.m.

Police said Tuesday night one man was in serious condition and the other was in stable condition but neither man’s injuries were life-threatening.

READ MORE: Edmonton house explosion sends 2 to hospital

At this point it’s not known what caused the explosion. Police said they are working to determine if it was criminal in nature. Officers said the house was not on police radar, nor were the people who lived in the home.

“What you see here is the beginnings of a fire, EPCOR, city, police, sort of combination investigation to determine the cause,” Insp. Regan James with the Edmonton Police Service said Wednesday morning.

One neighbour told Global News she knows the people who live in the home and said they are nice people. Another neighbour who lives across the street said they had questions about the home because they saw a lot of people coming and going.

With files from Fletcher Kent, Global News.