Neighbors felt their houses shake as an enormous gas explosion blew apart a house on the south side of Kalispell Saturday.

No one was hurt in the noon explosion that buckled the walls, the garage door and collapsed the roof at the rear of the house at 2358 Coot Court. Nearby homes were rained with insulation, and a subsequent fire that put off a column of black smoke melted the siding of a neighboring home.

“We felt it,” said Rick Wills, who lives less than a block away. “I thought it happened in my back yard. I could see flames. You could see the walls were folded out. The roof was gone. It was huge. It was a big boom.”

“It was a scary, big noise,” said neighbor Pat Fleming.

Her husband, Robert Fleming, said he was looking out a picture window at their home when he saw a flash and heard the noise. He said his house and yard were covered in insulation.

The explosion and fire and large response of Kalispell Fire Department, South Kalispell Fire Department, the Whitefish Fire Department, Evergreen Fire and Rescue and the Smith Valley Fire Department attracted dozens of onlookers, some who were hopeful that no one was inside because there was no vehicle in the garage.

 “No one was home at the time of the explosion,” said Kalispell Fire Chief Dave Dedman. “We have confirmation the husband is hunting.”

And evidently, the wife was away when it happened but was in the vicinity of the home afterwards.

“I don’t know if she came home to it or what,” Dedman said.

When firefighters arrived they could not immediately approach the home because the gas was still turned on, and the gas meter at the rear of the home was ruptured and spewing flames.

“There was a large amount of fire coming from that,” Dedman said, adding that once the gas was turned off, firefighters were able to move in and knock down the fire.

Northwest Energy personnel were on the scene monitoring for leaks that might threaten other homes. Dedman said the area appeared to be secure, and the cause of the gas leak wasn’t immediately known.

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