Victorville home explodes, woman inside airlifted to trauma center

A woman was airlifted to a trauma center after her Victorville home exploded early Wednesday, officials said.

Sheriff’s dispatch received multiple calls reporting a loud explosion and a house on fire

near Adalane Court and Llanada Avenue just before 3 a.m., the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department said in a news release.

Multiple agencies responded, and deputies reported seeing debris in the neighborhood and found the residence fully engulfed in flames. 

With the cause of the explosion unknown, officials evacuated residents in the area.

A woman who was home alone inside the house when it exploded was able to pull herself outside, the Sheriff's Department said.

A police department official — who was on patrol at the time and went to the scene when he heard the explosion — found the woman with burns and called an emergency medical response.

The victim was transported to a local hospital and was later flown to a trauma center. She was listed in critical but stable condition Wednesday afternoon.

Southwest Gas responded to the incident to check for cause of the explosion, the utility company said in a statement to KTLA.

"While the cause of this incident remains under investigation, Southwest Gas has thoroughly inspected the incident site and surrounding area for gas leaks. No leaks were found," the utility said. "Safety is our top priority and our crews have turned gas off to the impacted residences and worked with first responders to ensure the area is safe and secure."

Aerial video from Sky5 showed the home completely destroyed, with debris spread all along the block.

The force of the blast caused damage to neighboring homes, along with several others in the cul de sac. A home across the street had its front door blown off and one resident said he was pushed out of bed, Victor Valley News reported.

All other Southwest Gas infrastructures are operating without issue, according to the utility.

A contractor with the company conducted a periodic routine leak inspection in the area just last month and no leaks were found at that time either.

The cause of the explosion is under investigation.

No further details were immediately available.

Anyone with information about the investigation is asked to contact the Victorville Police Department at 760-241-2911 or Sheriff’s Dispatch at 760-956-5001. Callers wishing to remain anonymous can call the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78CRIME (27463) or leave information at www.wetip.com.

from KRON4 https://ift.tt/thiDpsA