Several firefighters are in hospital after a house exploded in a small community southeast of Edmonton.
Six members from the Edgerton volunteer fire department were doing a controlled burn on an abandoned farm house Monday night when the building exploded.
One firefighter was thrown and several others were injured.
Stars Air Ambulance transported 21-year-old Bob Heim to the University of Alberta hospital, while the others were taken to hospital in Wainwright. Heim remains in hospital Tuesday.
Fire officials say they do not yet have any idea why the farmhouse
exploded so violently.
"When you've done your safety checks, nobody expects the house to explode," said Wainwright Fire Chief Steve Douglas.
The debris thrown from the explosion stretched as far as 1,000 feet, hit one truck parked nearby and sparked grassfires.
An investigation is now underway into what ignited the blast.
Edgerton is located 35 kilometres east of Wainwright.
With files from David Ewasuk
