Explosion, fire in Regina home sends 3 to hospital

Three people were sent to hospital with serious injuries following an explosion and fire in a Regina home Tuesday night.

The fire department said the force of explosion, in a home at 152 Cooper Cr. in the city's north end, sent a picture window six metres in the front yard.

Fire crews were alerted by a number of 911 calls around 7:12 p.m. CST with some callers reporting loud popping sounds from the burning home.

When crews arrived they found three injured adults in the home. They were taken to hospital. There was no immediate word on their condition, but the fire department said they needed treatment for smoke inhalation and burns.

Gerard Kay, a spokesman for the fire department, added a large French door from the home was tossed into the yard and the entire west side wall of the house was blown away.

The home is a duplex and there were two people in the other portion of the building. They were not hurt but they can not return to the home because of the extensive damage.

CBC News was told the force of the blast raised the home off its foundation.

Police were called to the scene along with crews from SaskEnergy. A spokesman for the natural gas company told CBC News there was no evidence of an above ground or underground leak in surrounding homes.

The spokesman added the company is still investigating and will dig up the gas line that services the home and test the line to ensure it was not the cause of the blast. That was expected to take about three hours.

In addition to the police investigation, a fire investigator will examine the site to try and determine what happened.