VIDEO: An explosion of a home in northeast Des Moines has sent a woman to the hospital in critical condition Monday afternoon. According to the Des Moines Police Department, the explosion was reported in the 2700 block of Sampson Street in the Union Park Neighborhood shortly after 2:30 p.m. Traffic on Sampson Street is shut down from Hull Avenue to East Sheridan Avenue. Officials say the natural gas and electric utilities have been shut off to the home and MidAmerican Energy Co. is responding.
“I was sitting on my couch and I heard a ‘boom’ and my whole house shook,” neighbor Darla Vreugdenhil told KCCI. Vreugdenhil told KCCI that when she went outside to see what caused the commotion, she could see fire shooting from the gas meter of a neighboring home and all of the windows were busted out. She said she saw a woman covered in burns running away from the fire.
Fire department officials confirm that the woman was the only person home at the time of the explosion. They also say there was a dog present and it was able to make it out of the house. The woman is being LifeFlighted to Iowa City for treatment at the University of Iowa Hospital’s burn unit, a fire department official said. He said the woman had just moved into the house over the weekend.
MidAmerican Energy Co. confirmed to KCCI that it has crews on-site and are investigating the explosion. Lt. Gene Emery with the Des Moines Fire Department says that the woman in the explosion was conscious and breathing and believes a potential gas leak could have been the cause.
“She was actually able to walk out on her own power. So again, that kind of tells me that whatever floor she was on probably was not where the origin was,” Emery said. MidAmerican Energy Co. crews arrived shortly after the explosion ensuring no other houses were affected. The Des Moines Police and Fire Department say they are still investigating the cause of the explosion and encourage nearby neighbors to have their gas meters checked.
