LAYTON, Utah — An explosion inside a house in Layton sent two people to the hospital with serious injuries Saturday afternoon.
The explosion happened at a house in the area of 850 North and 2175 West.
There were two people inside the house at the time: one man and one woman. They were both airlifted to the University of Utah Hospital to be treated for burns and traumatic blast injuries, according to Layton Fire Battalion Chief Brad Wilkes.
“It blew the entire side of the house off," Wilkes said, adding that he has never seen something like this where the victims survived.
Wilkes said the blast happened while the man and woman were in the basement working on a flooring project of some sort. The exact cause is under investigation.
Preston Tiffany, his wife and their 1-year-old son live next door to the house where the explosion occurred.
"We were in our living room trying to get him to take a nap, playing, when all of a sudden we felt and heard a very large noise, and then the ground started shaking," Tiffany said. "I thought it was an earthquake — then I watched a fireball roll up our neighbors' house and watched the wall fall in slow motion towards our house. So that's when we grabbed our son and ran."
Ring doorbell footage from Tiffany's home shows the moments when he and his family rushed outside after the explosion. Other neighbors rushed to provide aid to the man and woman.
"They were in shock, kind of stumbling out," he said of the victims. "It was great to see neighbors there to catch them."
Those Good Samaritans helped care for the injured man and woman until first responders arrived. They were both flown to the University of Utah Burn Center via AirMed and LifeFlight helicopters. The severity of their injuries ranges from serious to critical.
The Tiffany family will not be staying in their home Saturday night, but they have been told their house is still structurally sound. They're grateful that their neighbors are still alive.
"I'm a religious guy, and I definitely believe that there was intervention from God today," Tiffany said. "It's kind of a freak situation where it should've been much worse than it actually was."
First responders were not allowed to enter the home for their own health and safety. Wilkes said the home will ultimately need to be torn down.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the victims — Brandon and Shea Kinsey — with the various costs stemming from the explosion. It can be found here.
Earlier the same day, an explosion inside a laboratory at the University of Utah forced the building to be evacuated. In that case, however, nobody was injured. The explosion was small and fully contained by a "fume hood."
