Breckenridge, CO – Two men were injured when a Breckenridge home exploded early Wednesday morning that is believed to have been caused by a ruptured gas meter when ice and snow fell from the roof, Red, White and Blue Fire Protection District said.
Fire crews responded to the A-frame home in the 200 block of Royal Tiger Road about 1:30 a.m.
Both men, whose names and ages weren’t released, were were taken to a hospital in Frisco.
One man was treated and released, but the second man was taken to a Denver-area hospital and later released, fire district chief Jim Keating said. One suffered a broken arm.
The home was destroyed by the explosion and fire, Keating said.
“The power of natural gas and propane,” Keating said.
The men were sleeping when the explosion took place.
“One of the residents told us that basically he became aware and awake when he was airborne,” Keating said.
Neighbors Jeff and Emily Boyd were asleep when they were rattled awake from the explosion.
“It shook the whole house,” Jeff Boyd said. “It broke a bunch of pictures. I thought that our roof collapsed.”
Investigators believe the explosion was caused when ice or snow slid from the roof and broke a gas meter.
The natural gas then made its way inside through vents, then ignited, Keating said.
“You really have no idea what happens inside a situation like this, but it’s a miracle that anybody could walk out of it.”