A neighbor says a house explosion in Winnipeg's Transcona area sounded like an earthquake

A house explosion rocked a neighborhood on Winnipeg's east side, destroying at least one home and causing extensive damage to other buildings.

A house on Camrose Bay, off Coldstream Boulevard, exploded around 11:15 a.m. Wednesday in Transcona, the City of Winnipeg reported.

“There was a major catastrophic explosion at a home… with damage to nearby homes and buildings,” Scott Wilkinson, deputy chief of fire rescue operations for the Winnipeg Fire Service, told reporters near the scene. Firefighting efforts.

He added that members of the Winnipeg Fire Department and Police are still working to locate the people living in the home that was destroyed. They don't know if anyone was home at the time.

A news release issued Wednesday afternoon from the City of Winnipeg said fire crews searched other buildings damaged by the explosion, and no occupants were found.

Winnipeg fire crews have finished putting out fires in the Transcona neighborhood after a house exploded Wednesday morning. (Submitted by Scott Potter)

All that remains of the house that exploded is a concrete foundation on which firefighters poured water as smoke billowed from the hole.

There were no reports of anyone being injured in nearby homes, but many were too damaged to allow people to return to live there. Wilkinson said the city will work with these people to support them in any way we can.

Firefighters sprayed water on the foundation of the house that exploded. (Justin Fraser/CBC)

Damaged buildings include some across the street from the building that exploded, as well as in the back and on both sides.

Debris from the explosion was scattered across the area, and the roofs of nearby houses were blown off.

People living on the street gathered on sidewalks and nearby streets into Wednesday afternoon, waiting to hear when they would return home.

Karl Lint lives right next door to the house that exploded. The roof of his house appeared to be on fire at some point and the curtains were flying from the shattered windows.

watched Neighbor Carl Lint's video of the effects of the explosion:

Neighbors record aftermath of Winnipeg house explosion Transcona resident Carl Lent was in disbelief as he recorded flames exploding from a house next door that exploded Wednesday morning.

Lent was in his garage when the explosion occurred.

“It felt… like an earthquake,” he said. His garage door opened, and “things flew, they exploded.”

As he dusted himself off and got up, a second explosion knocked him to the ground.

“Things were flying everywhere. I've never seen anything like this before,” he said. “I thought my grill exploded, which was right outside the garage door.”

Lent, who has lived in his home for 27 years, said he did not know the older man whose house exploded. The man lived there with a younger woman.

Lent is not sure if anyone is home.

The house that exploded is shown on the left in a Google Street View image from 2015. Karl Lint's house is on the right. (Street view from Google)

“I saw him leave this morning, but he comes and goes. I don't know if he came home, because I was in the garage.”

He was unable to return to his home to see the extent of the damage, but at one point he saw that his back deck was on fire.

“It looks like the back corner of the house is gone,” he said. “What do I do next? Where do I go?”

Deputy Chief Wilkinson said a few homes had to be evacuated, with most people able to shelter in place while crews worked to extinguish the fires.

He added that it was too early to speculate about the cause of the explosion, adding that he had no knowledge of any construction work taking place in the area.

“We do not have any risks to the community, beyond that, that we are aware of at this time,” Wilkinson said.

Brandi Nieves said she was about to finish a doctor's appointment when her phone started blowing up with calls and texts telling her her house had exploded. She said she rushed home, worried about her pets inside, but learned the explosion had occurred at a house a few doors away.

“We were too busy and too panicked to go home to see what the situation was,” she said.

Her family was unable to return to their home early Wednesday afternoon, as fire crews were working in the street. Nieves said she was grateful that one of the officers on the scene was able to enter the home to retrieve her puppy from their kennels, but her cat was still inside.

The public is urged to avoid the area to allow emergency crews to safely manage the scene.

The city's response to the incident included 19 emergency units at the scene, including fire and rescue.

Fire trucks and water hoses line the street where the house exploded on Wednesday. (Justin Fraser/CBC)

A city press release said the cause of the explosion was still under investigation.

Scooby, the Winnipeg Ambulance Service's rapid detection dog, was assisting fire investigators at the scene, she said.

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