LAYTON, Utah — A Layton man was transported to the hospital in critical condition after an apparent house explosion Tuesday night.
Neighbors called 911 just before 5:00 p.m. saying that they heard an explosion, and thought the worst after they saw smoke pouring out from the house.
“I was downstairs and I heard a big boom, I didn’t know, I felt it, I felt it, I thought something fell over in the house, something big and when I came upstairs . . . and she goes look at that house right there and it was a big plume of smoke," said nearby resident Martin Rodarte.
Layton police responded to the area near the garage of the home, where they found a 77 year-old man who had sustained serious injuries from the blast.
Just before 5pm, @laytonpolice got a call for an explosion inside of the garage of a home on S Lisa Drive.
— 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐞 (@brian_schnee) July 7, 2021
Man was taken to the hospital and said to be in critical condition. pic.twitter.com/s8kKlwYpFt
“The victim in this case initially said that he was doing welding in the garage, so that may very well have what caused this explosion,” said Layton Police Lt. Travis Lyman.
He was transported by ambulance to McKay Dee Hospital, then flown to the University of Utah Hospital after suffering significant shrapnel injuries from the blast.
Welding has since been determined to be the cause, according to Facebook update Wednesday morning.
The man's wife and granddaughter were in the home, though neither were injured.
Police called in the Davis County Bomb Squad to investigate the explosion.
