Natural Gas Explosion Destroys Home in Carmel

CARMEL, Calif. – A Carmel neighborhood had quite the scare this morning after a home exploded into pieces. But on Monday night, no one is saying exactly what happened. PG&E was working on gas lines in the area before the explosion.

As for the explosion it was so big it not only caused damage to nearby homes but people heard it several blocks away.

“It was like a bomb blast, I thought it was a tree hitting the house, but there was no tree around,” said resident James Lagiss.

Lagiss said came outside looked next door and saw this. A home on Guadalupe and Third Street in Carmel was in shambles, wood hanging from trees, debris on power lines and the roof completely blown off by an explosion.

“This is the part that hit the house and really shook things up,” Lagiss said.

The home was vacant no was injured. But the impact was so strong that Ian Dahl felt it five houses down.

“I was out here hitting golf balls actually and I hear the explosion and glass flew I took cover just in case something crazy was going on,” Dahl said.

One neighbor lives right next to the house that exploded. Too shaken up to speak on camera, she said the impact shattered windows in her house and just take a look at the roof on top of hers.

PG&E was at the intersection working on pipeline replacement project before the explosion, but isn’t saying what went wrong. Crews cut off gas to this area by noon and conducted a leak survey of the neighborhood by one. But homes on Guadalupe in a three block area were evacuated. That evacuation was lifted two hours later. But it could be much longer before we find out what caused this.

The explosion started a small fire behind the home but that was quickly put out. PG&E said if something the workers did cause the explosion they will take responsibility for paying for the damage.