Signal Hill House Damaged After Natural Gas Explosion; Minor Injuries Reported
SIGNAL HILL (CBSLA) — Fire crews extinguished a blaze Thursday afternoon ignited by a natural gas explosion at a two-story house in Signal Hill.
"Just a big ball of flame just like hit them in the face, and you just heard like a really big explosion," Jay Barot, a family member of those injured, said.
Barot said he could hardly believe that his 66-year-old mother, Ingrid, and 38-year-old brother, Jolin, survived what firefighters have called a gas explosion inside the family home.
The explosion happened about 4:30 p.m. in the 2100 block of North Ohio Avenue, near East 21st Street, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Glass from the explosion covered the streets outside of the home and was being cleaned up.
"We come and cannot believe what we see," Kumar, Barot's father and the homeowner, said.
Both Ingrid and Jolin were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries, but Barot said it could have been much worse since he and his brother are personal trainers and work out of the home's garage.
"Luckily we didn't have no clients in there," he said.
Both Barot and his father said the family smelled gas recently and called the Long Beach Gas Company to report it.
"We had people inspect it and they said there was no issues, so I don't know what happened," Barot said.
A spokesperson for the Long Beach Gas Company declined to comment.
The investigation into the cause of the blast was continuing.