GOODYEAR, AZ — Neighbors knocked down a block wall to rescue a man after a Goodyear house explosion Sunday night.
The fireball was captured on a home security camera from more than a block away, near Citrus and Yuma roads in Goodyear.
“Fire was coming out the windows and we kept hearing pretty loud pops and bangs like ammunition was blowing up,” neighbor Natalie Sims said. “Everyone was pretty scared about getting hit; we were trying to stay back from the house."
Two people inside the home were injured in the blast. A man, whom neighbors said used a wheelchair, and a woman.
Neighbors noticed the man laying in his backyard as the fire raged and, they sprung into action. They knocked down a block wall to grab the injured man. Fire officials, who have not released the man’s name, say he is in critical condition at Valleywise Medical Center’s burn unit.
Officials say the woman was treated at a west Valley hospital and released.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is helping the Goodyear Fire Department in the investigation.
Investigators pulled guns, ammunition, gunpowder, and chemicals from the home, and agents placed them on a table in front of the house Monday. Fire officials said they received assistance from an explosive ordinance disposal team because there was so much highly flammable material.
The exact cause and origin of the fire are still under investigation.
“Nothing nefarious that we can tell, but there’s a lot of components,” Goodyear Fire Battalion Chief Nick Lyons said of the explosive materials and weapons.
Authorities have ruled out a natural gas leak as a cause of the explosion.
