A massive explosion leveled a home and shook an entire neighborhood Wednesday night in the Western New York town of Gates, causing fires at two adjacent homes and sending about 120 firefighters from 30 departments to the scene.
Neighbors say the blast, which happened at about 6 p.m., rattled their homes, with one resident telling local news that he was knocked off a ladder as he was hanging Christmas decorations outside his house.
The below video by Guy Zampatori shows the extent of the damage. Zampatori's Facebook page also has about 20 excellent images from the scene.
"It was the biggest, loudest boom that you've ever heard in your life," neighbor Vicki Shrontz told the Democrat & Chronicle newspaper. "I came outside and the house was just an inferno...terrible...like a gas explosion or something. Its just unbelievable."
Luckily, the home was vacant at the time of the explosion and there were no injuries reported.
Crews were able to contain the fires at the nearby houses, but the garage of one homeowner was destroyed. It took about 45 minutes to tame the flames.
