ROANOKE, Va. — A duplex explosion in a Roanoke neighborhood left one person in critical condition Friday afternoon.
Roanoke Fire-EMS crews responded to the intersection of Dorchester Drive and Rutgers Street around 4 p.m. after the duplex exploded. When crews arrived, one side of the duplex was engulfed in flames and the other side had collapsed. Two cars were also damaged in the explosion.
Residents described the moment the explosion happened.
"Big fire and a big boom. I mean like two or three booms, not one," Nickey Carroll said.
Justin Goad said he saw smoke rising over a nearby privacy fence.
"I looked up... you could see just a lot of black smoke coming from the end of the road," Goad said.
Goad said neighbors flooded the streets, some trying to help in any way they could.
"Half the city was there, it seemed like," Goad said. "There were people on both sides of the road coming out of every house... Me and my neighbor were trying to direct traffic away from the area."
Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback said one side of the duplex was destroyed.
"Heavy damage. The first one is actually, it's destroyed. The second house, to the point of rehabbed, I couldn't tell you that," Hoback said. "Anytime you get here, and you have heavy explosions like we experienced today, we have to figure out what caused those."
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
