A house fire in Halifax Street turned from bad to worse when a loud and powerful explosion occurred inside its garage, right in the middle of firefighting operations.
The fire was caused by a heat lamp that was installed to close to exposed roof trusses in a shed that was attached to the garage. The fire spread from the shed to the inside of the garage.
Firefighters said the garage explosion lifted the roof off the structure and blew debris across the street.
There were four firefighters inside of the garage at the time of the explosion, but they were able to escape without injuries. Two other firefighters that were on the outside of the garage when the explosion occurred took most of the force from the blast.
The explosion was found to be from a 10-pound lb bottle of nitrous oxide that exploded during the fire. The bottle ruptured due to the heat from the fire and sent shrapnel in the garage and out onto the street.
No one was reported to be injured from the incident although four dogs that were left inside the shed died during the fire.
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