An explosion and fire over the weekend destroyed a house and damaged three others in Dayton on Flathead Lake’s west shore.

None of the houses were occupied at the time of the Friday night explosion, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Damage is estimated at $200,000 for the houses, which were rental units.

“It is believed that there was a leak in the propane line in the crawl space under the destroyed house and when an electric heater switched on inside, the spark ignited the propane that had collected and caused the house to explode,” according to a press release from Karen Sergeant of the Sheriff’s Office.

“The structure directly adjacent to the burning house showed significant structure damage. The third house had some damage to the corner of the structure and the house located across the street was damaged as well.”

Neighbors say the blast caused pictures to shake on their walls.

Dayton is about 20 miles north of Polson on the west side of Flathead Lake.

The explosion happened just before midnight on Friday at the house at 516 B St. in Dayton.

Chief Cliff firefighter Jason Heffner said the blast was heard across the lake as far away as Big Arm. Heffner, who was first on the scene, said debris from the explosion still was falling from the sky as he called dispatch around 11:30 p.m. Friday.

Chief Cliff Fire Department was the first department to respond and called in Polson and Rollins fire departments for assistance.

Firefighters found the house that exploded was actively burning when they arrived. Propane tanks behind three houses were not damaged during the explosion or fire.