A 79-year-old woman was killed and another woman was rescued during a house explosion and subsequent fire in Berlin, Massachusetts, early Friday morning, according to emergency officials.
The explosion and fire happened at a home on Pleasant Street in the Worcester County town.
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The woman who died was identified as Judy Christensen by the Worcester County District Attorney's Office. Her daughter, the woman who was rescued, remained hospitalized, they said.
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Christensen, who had just celebrated her 79th birthday on Thursday, was found dead inside her home by first responders, according to Berlin Fire Chief Michael McQuillen.
A 911 call came in at around 3:30 a.m. for a house explosion and crews arrived to find a fully involved two-and-a-half story home that was leveled, McQuillen said.
“Units please move for a house that blew up, there are people trapped,” one dispatcher said.
A first responder said, “We have a house leveled on the ground, on fire.”
“We heard an incredible bang that shook our house,” neighbor Mark Smith told NBC10 Boston.
Smith said he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw what was left of the home completely leveled and on fire.
“The house was... it was gone, instantly, there was debris all over the road,” Smith said.
Three neighbors rushed over to help a woman who was trapped underneath it all.
“It’s a life-saving event that they did, rushing in, they lifted debris. My understanding is there was some type of a roof structure almost covering her and it took a couple of them to lift it up to get it off her,” McQuillen said.
The woman was taken to an area hospital, where she is reportedly in stable condition.
McQuillen said with the fire rapidly expanding, the actions of the neighbors were truly heroic.
Christensen was a well-known pillar of the community, he said.
“These are personal friends of them, some of them were part of her celebration type thing, they knew she had a birthday yesterday, so it does hit home for them,” McQuillen said.
“I hoped that nobody was home. Obviously I was wrong,” said Smith, tearing up.
Fire crews were still working to extinguish the fire and any remaining hot spots throughout the morning hours.
Debris covered a 300-foot area, fire officials said, who noted that an investigation has been launched into the cause of the explosion. Investigators are looking into the possibility of propane or natural gas contributing to the incident, with McQuillen confirming that a company was just at the home in the past couple days examining an issue with the propane system.
“We’re working with the local authorities and the relatives to try and gather some additional details," Massachusetts Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said.
Damage to neighboring homes was limited to minor cosmetic damage.
Firefighters from Bolton, Clinton, Harvard, Hopkinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Northborough, Shirley, Sterling and Stow all helped fight the fire. West Boylston firefighters provided station coverage.
