Man seriously injured in rural gas explosion heard kilometres away in Calgary

A man has been seriously injured in an explosion south of Calgary that could be heard nearly 20 kilometres away.

A natural gas explosion nearly flattened the 36-year-old's workshop on a rural propertyabout three kilometres west of De Winton,Foothills Fire Chief Jim Smith said.

Emergency crews were alerted to the blast just before 8:30 p.m.Monday. They took the man to hospital in Calgary.

Debris flew as far away as 76 metres, Smith said.

"The building is down on the ground. Much of the wall and stuff are still intact," the chiefsaid. "There's debris pretty much everywhere."

The large plume of dark smoke could be seen kilometres away, but officials said there was no danger to the public.

The noise from the blast resonated as far north as Calgary's Southland Drive, about 20 kilometres away.

'Like a barn exploded'

Vince Zanellaheard the bang in his shop, Zanella Auto Repair in De Winton, about 4.5kilometres from the explosion.

After he spotted the smoke, he drove down to the site of the fire. More than 20 other motorists had the same idea, he said Tuesday.

"It was like a parking lot, the amount of people that came out, thatdrove out here to look at that fire," Zanella said.

"It just looked like a barn exploded and then, of course, the black smoke must have been from the insulation or something like that."

Zanella spoke with other people near the scene some told him they had heard the bang from Calgary. Others arrived from Okotoks, about 12 kilometres south of De Winton.

By the time they arrived, the fire department was extinguishing the flames, he said.

"I just hope everybody's OK," Zanella said.

Investigation ongoing

RCMP and the Foothills Fire Department areinvestigating what caused the explosion.

The investigation will begin in full when the inspector arrives asscheduled Wednesday afternoon, Smith said.

The fire chief was on the scene Tuesday afternoon with specialists to ensure the natural gas and electricity were turned off.

"We're just making the scene safe so no one gets injured," Smith said.

Smith said he hadn't heard how the man was faring in hospital.