Emergency services were called to Hampsthwaite near Harrogate yesterday evening (23:29 on 5th February 2013) following reports of an explosion at a property.
The property is a semi-detached house and the adjoining property was evacuated as a safety precaution.
An appliance from Knaresborough which was on standby at Harrogate Fire Station, Summerbridge and the Heavy Rescue Appliance from Ripon were all mobilised to the incident.
The occupant of the house, a man in his seventies, sustained burns as a result of the explosion and subsequent fire.
He was taken by ambulance to hospital for treatment and was later transferred to Pinderfields hospital for specialist treatment. No-one else was injured.
The incident involved a fire in the kitchen following an explosion in the property. As a result of the explosion two front and read ground floor windows along with the kitchen door of the property were blown out.
Crews extinguished the fire using 2 hose reels, 4 breathing apparatus, thermal imaging camera and lighting.
The fire caused 90% fire damage to the kitchen. 20% fire damage to living room and 100% smoke damage to the rest of the property.
Gas engineers were called to the scene of the incident to assist the investigation and making the property safe. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service investigators and North Yorkshire Police’s forensic investigators will examine the scene to establish the cause of the incident. The property remains cordoned off this morning.
The cause of this incident is still under investigation and Fire Investigation Officers are re-visiting this incident this morning alongside the Police.
