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WEST MILFORD, N.J. (WPIX) – An investigation continues into the cause of a massive house explosion in New Jersey that sent several people to the hospital on Friday.
The house, in West Milford, exploded Friday night around 9 p.m., officials said. It was so intense that it rocked homes throughout the rural neighborhood.
“It was a vibration. It was a shock. It felt like it was going to push my house over. I’m like three-fourths of a mile down, I’m not even that close, and it felt like my house was going to fall over,” said local resident Keith Koster.
Images shared by the Hackensack Fire Department appear to show the home had been completely leveled. Officials wrote on Facebook that some of the house’s occupants were initially trapped under the rubble.
The West Milford Fire Department freed the first five victims, while Hackensack fire officials aided to free the sixth, the department said.
Five of the victims were rushed to nearby hospitals and a sixth refused medical attention, officials said. One victim suffered serious burn injuries.
“The five people I saw come out were OK. Just cuts and bruises. which is crazy. But everyone was moving and responsive,” Koster said.
Neighbors say they had heard the home was recently purchased by new owners who may have been doing construction or cleaning it out.
The explosion remains under investigation by the West Milford Fire Marshall, West Milford Detective Bureau, and the State Fire Marshall Office.
