The sole victim of a deadly home explosion in Caledon, Ont. has been identified.
Emergency crews responded just after 6 a.m. Sunday to reports of a house explosion in the area of Maple Grove Road in the neighbourhood of Caledon Village.
When they arrived on the scene, they found a house demolished and one person without vital signs at the scene, said OPP media spokesperson Tamera Schubert.
WATCH: House explosion in Caledon Ont. leaves one person dead
OPP have since identified the deceased resident as 54-year-old Joseph Westcott.
OPP Const. Iryna Nebogatova says several neighbouring homes suffered damage from the blast — though the full extent of it is unknown.
Dwight Hodder, who lives one street over from where the home exploded, told Global News the blast shook his house so badly that the light fixture in his bedroom came crashing down on his bed. When he went over to Maple Grove Road to investigate, he saw “a pile of bricks” where the house once stood.
“It was levelled,” said Hodder.
His daughter, Brooklyn, said the blast felt like an earthquake.
“I just heard things in the house banging…it was like an earthquake, everything fell off my bed, some of my pictures, my chalkboard on my wall, everything just fell down,” said Brooklyn. “It was just absolute panic.”
Police said there was a gas leak when emergency crews responded to the scene, though the cause of the explosion is still under investigation.
“Because the house was on the ground, the concerns are the gas main is free-flowing….as well as concerns for the houses nearby,” Caledon fire Chief Darryl Bailey told reporters at the scene Sunday.
“Due to some of the structural integrity that those houses may have faced, there’s also concerns that those gas mains may have ruptured as well as any other hazards of debris. There’s some debris that’s up in the trees, on several roofs in the area, it’s spread out over a couple of streets,” said Bailey.
No injuries have been reported, though Bailey said emergency services are continuing to reach out to affected residents.
WATCH: Aerial view of the destruction left after one person was killed by a home explosion in Caledon early Sunday morning
OPP spokesperson Ian Michel said fire crews have evacuated the entire street, resulting in 30 to 35 people being forced to leave their homes.
Displaced residents have taken shelter at a nearby McDonald’s restaurant and a local church, and a bus has also been set up as a warming station, Michel said.
The Red Cross has also set up services for those who have been displaced, a process that volunteer Guy Lapage says will involve several steps.
Enbridge Gas crews have shut off natural gas in the surrounding homes in order for investigators to safely access the site.
OPP said the affected street will likely be closed for several days as the investigation continues.
WATCH: One person dead after house explosion north of Toronto
More to come.
–With files from the Canadian Press and Erica Vella
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