A man was critically injured Thursday morning in an explosion that destroyed a Tarrant County home, damaged several others, sent a neighbor to the hospital, along with a firefighter, and sent a shockwave that was felt miles away, authorities say.
It happened shortly after 7:30 a.m. at a home in the 5600 block of Watters Place in Westworth Village, a suburban Fort Worth city located along the West Fork of the Trinity River near Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.
"It was like a bomb, it was literally an earthquake. Shook everything around us," said Codi Tanksley whose home sits directly in front of the house that exploded.
He said he has just pulled out of his driveway and down the street when the blast happened.
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"I flipped around and saw one of our neighbors running into the house and they were dragging somebody out of the house, they didn't look too good," said Tanksley.
The Fort Worth Fire Department said there were multiple reports of an explosion with neighbors reporting at least one resident was seriously injured.
First responders arrived to find a one-story wood frame house completely destroyed, with debris sent flying into the street and surrounding yards. Glass on neighboring homes was shattered, firefighters said.
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"All the windows were gone, everything, there was glass all over the bed and everywhere else in the house," said Tracy Sanders, a neighbor whose home is right next door.
"Originally I thought the tree fell on the house next door, but in my mind, I knew it was an explosion, I woke up and I thought I was back in Fallujah (Iraq)," he said. "Realizing that we are close to a military base, I didn't know what happened, I assumed we were under some sort of attack but it took a minute for me to get my head together."
Another neighbor, Craig Strain, owns several rental properties on the same street as the explosion, was getting his morning coffee ready when he felt the vibration from the blast.
Strain described seeing debris falling onto his yard and then checked to see what happened, and sprang into action to help rescue the injured man.
"There was a man standing in the middle of the house screaming, standing there naked with a pair of shoes on just screaming," said Strain.
“I worked my way through the gate and was talking to him saying, 'Are you alright man? Are you okay? Are you okay?' and he said, 'I don’t know,'" described Strain who tried to reassure the man he would be OK.
Strain said the neighbor told him no one else was inside.
“I kind of grabbed him by the hand and I said, 'Let’s go. Step here, step here,’ I led him through, we could clear some of the debris to get him to the edge of the house," explained Strain.
When others called him a hero he disagreed and said he was just being a neighbor.
“Oh anybody would do this, I mean I’m just a neighbor. That’s what you do for people, isn't it?" said Strain.
He said he felt OK going onto the property because he didn't see any fires.
"I figured I could get him out of there, before anything, and I wasn’t going to leave him there for crying out loud. I figured I could get him out before it got worse," he said.
The man inside the home at the time of the explosion was found critically injured with burns. He was taken by CareFlight medical helicopter to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.
Neighbors say his wife and children were not home at the time. Firefighters rescued a dog that was found injured and trapped in the debris.
"This is Charlie," said Danita Shelton, the owner of the home that exploded.
She said she was now helping take care of the dog, which was singed, for the family that has been renting the house from her for less than a month.
Shelton said her family has owned the property for 45 years and became emotional due to the memories of the home shared with her kids who grew up there and their father who has since past.
"I don't have any insurance, and my kids are really upset about losing the house," said Shelton who got choked up and mentioned that her family had started a GoFundMe account.
Photos: Man Critically Hurt After Home Explosion Rocks Tarrant County Neighborhood Thursday
A firefighter and one neighbor were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening.
The American Red Cross of Greater North Texas was helping residents who were forced from their homes. Five other surrounding houses were damaged and are uninhabitable.
"Imagine like the loudest hardest thunder you ever heard and multiply it by 100," said Katie Browning who lives on the street with her three kids.
"The whole house shook, ears vibrated, stuff fell off the walls, windows broke," said Browning who said her adrenaline was starting to wear off and beginning to process what she had just experienced with her family.
She said they were getting ready for school, and her daughter was already in the car when the explosion happened.
"I was scared and confused," said her daughter, Ella.
Once neighbors were able to go back and assess the damage, several had to stay elsewhere for the night due to the damage to their homes.
"I'm literally in front of their house, their front door is on the hood of my 4Runner, their tree that's in their front yard is on the side of my roof, if that gives you any type of magnitude of what happened, it was like a tornado came through here and just completely wiped that area out, it's unbelievable, unbelievable," said Tanksley.
It's not yet clear what caused the explosion, fire officials said. The Fort Worth Fire Department and Atmos Energy are currently investigating.
Check back and refresh this page for the latest update. As developments unfold, elements of this story may change.
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