Alexis Bharrat lives five doors down from where a blast eradicated a family home in north Edmonton Sunday afternoon and says both his body and his surroundings registered the impact.
"My ears popped [and] all the pictures fell off the fell off the wall," he said of the blowout at 91st Street and 179th Avenue.
When he went outside to see what happened, all he and his family members could see was destruction, with many on scene likening the devastation to a war zone.
"The actual house was crushed below ground level," said Anil Bharrat.
Karen Waugh says she experienced the blast through shards of glass.
"The window came in after me and shattered," she said.
Fire officials say the devastation spanned an entire block, with many residents feeling the effects in different ways.
"Everything from flying projectiles right through walls, ceilings etcetera, glass out, dislodged foundations – quite a forceful explosion," said Fire Chief Robert D'Aoust
But those living within metres of where the destruction occurred were not alone in feeling reverberations. People across the suburban Lakewood neighbourhood contacted CTV News to report they too had felt the ground shake.
Mathieu Comeault is being credited as a hero after he and two others ran to the scene and climbed through the debris to help people trapped inside the home immediately next to where the explosion happened.
"There was stuff flying through the air… I had to shield my face – there was that much heat coming off it," he said of fighting to get to the basement.
"We pulled out a middle-aged girl and her young son."
The two residents were taken to hospital to receive treatment for shock.
CTV News is told the three individuals who assisted in the rescue will be recognized for their efforts.
With Files from Sonia Sunger and Bill Fortier
