DES MOINES, Iowa — An explosion Sunday morning caused heavy damage to a home on the southeast side of the city. Seven members of one family managed to get out safely.

Neighbors came to help out, checking to make sure all got out okay. One neighbor called 911, and around five fire trucks arrived within minutes.

“We heard a big boom and my wife came to the door and looked out,” said Steve Jones, a neighbor. “We saw that the house down here had flames coming out of the roof so we both went down to check on it.”

Jones noticed the fire on the south end of the home. On the north side of the house, the house valve for natural gas had been jarred away from the meter by the explosion. Gas was coming out of the pipe. Jones went back to his house and grabbed a channel-lock wrench and used it to stop the gas flow.

“The fire was on the other end of the house so somebody’s got to do it,” said Jones.

At the Des Moines Fire Department, Public Information Officer Ahman Douglass admired the willingness to help, but expressed concern about the safety of turning off the gas, instead of waiting for fire crews.

“We appreciate the fact that we have some wonderful people right here in our city that are willing to help out when they see a need,” said Douglass. “This situation here with a ruptured gas line outside the house, the neighbor that responded to shut that gas off, that was a great effort, but please leave those situations for us.”

Douglass said turning off the gas in that type of situation is extremely dangerous.

“We’re going to have on the protective clothing and we will actually have non-sparking tools,” said Douglass. “Had there been a spark from that tool that was used, we’d be having an entirely different conversation.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Metro News: