The couple inside was making breakfast when the house blew up.
It happened shortly after 7 a.m. Thursday on North Coulee Trail, in a rural subdivision in Foothills County, northeast of Okotoks and just south of Heritage Pointe. The blast blew the roof off the two-storey home and scattered white insulation hundreds of metres across the neighbourhood.
Both people got out. They were taken to hospital as a precaution.
The explosion was felt well beyond the property. Neighbours say it shook their houses, woke them up, and in some cases damaged their homes. Heritage Heights School, nearby, closed for the day.
RCMP say there’s nothing suspicious about it. Nobody has said what caused it.
“Like a bomb going off”
Ron Tarrant lives in Heritage Pointe, about half a mile away.
“I was literally thrown out of bed by what felt like a bomb going off by our house,” he said.
He drove toward the noise and found the home destroyed.
Amanda Bullock lives just east of the property. Her family woke to the blast around 7 a.m.
“We just felt an explosion, it rattled the whole house,” she said. She described it as an earthquake right under the house. From an upstairs window, the family could see flames rising from next door. Then they saw a second explosion.
Other residents said there were several blasts, strong enough to damage their own homes.
Firefighters found the house engulfed
Foothills Fire Department crews got the first calls around 7 a.m. When they arrived, the house was “engulfed in flames,” Deputy Chief Dave Simms said.
Crews spent the morning pouring water on what was left while heavy smoke and fire kept coming out of the structure.
Calgary Fire sent a crew from its Seton station at first. That was called off once it was clear the scene was outside city limits and Foothills County didn’t need the help.
The couple got out
RCMP said the couple was at home preparing breakfast when it happened. Both managed to escape, and Simms said they were taken to hospital as a precaution. RCMP reported no injuries.
Their names haven’t been released.
Look at the pictures of that roof and the fact that both of them walked away is the best news in the story.
Heritage Heights School closed
Foothills School Division closed Heritage Heights School for the day “out of an abundance of caution.” The school itself wasn’t damaged.
Students already on buses were rerouted to École Percy Pegler in Okotoks, where parents could pick them up. The division gave families the school’s number: 403-938-4449.
What caused it?
Nobody knows yet.
RCMP say the incident isn’t suspicious. That tells you police don’t believe it was deliberate. It doesn’t tell you what happened.
ATCO, the natural gas and electricity utility, confirmed it was called about the fire and reported explosion, and said its crews went to the scene to support emergency responders. That’s standard for a structure fire with a blast. It doesn’t mean gas was the cause, and ATCO hasn’t said it was.
Fire officials haven’t said whether it started inside the house or somewhere else on the property. The investigation is ongoing.
What we know so far
As of Thursday afternoon, Nov. 5:
A house on North Coulee Trail, northeast of Okotoks, exploded and burned shortly after 7 a.m.
The blast blew the roof off and scattered insulation hundreds of metres.
Neighbours report several explosions, and some say their own homes were damaged.
The couple inside escaped and went to hospital as a precaution. RCMP report no injuries.
RCMP say it isn’t suspicious.
Heritage Heights School closed. Bused students went to École Percy Pegler.
The cause hasn’t been confirmed.
We’ll update this story when officials say more.
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