Owner of Huntsville home destroyed in weekend explosion speaks on incident

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - The owner of a home that was destroyed in an explosion Saturday afternoon spoke to reporters about what happened.

Amanda Garcia’s home was destroyed in an explosion Saturday afternoon just before 2 p.m. The explosion allegedly happened after an independent contractor struck a gas line while working in the area.

She had a smile on her face during the interview, but the smile doesn’t come from the loss of her home. Rather, it’s from the fact everyone in her family of seven made it out with virtually no injuries.

“We started smelling a strong smell. Then when one of my sisters got out -- she was going to the park -- they told her that they had hit the pipe. And then she got me and I got everybody out of the house,” Garcia said.

With the smell of gas permeating throughout the home, Garcia scrambled through her house, urging everyone to get out before it was too late. She was the last one to make it out.

“I was too concerned about them that I was like ‘get out, get out!” I didn’t explain to them why, I just said get out, please. Just get out of the house and take the dog with you,” Garcia said. “Just to make sure everyone was out, I went back in.”

Garcia says she called Huntsville Utilities to report the gas leak. But before that utility worker could do anything, something sparked an explosion, and the house went up in flames. Garcia says she was just 25 feet from the explosion in her backyard.

“I’m thankful that everybody’s okay,” Garcia said. “I know the house does not look okay but that’s material things and I’m just so thankful that everybody’s fine.”

Garcia and her family will be assisted by the American Red Cross.

In the meantime, the Madison County Fire Marshal is taking over the investigation. At this, we don’t know if that independent contractor could be held liable for the damages to Garcia’s home.

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