Police and firefighters are investigating at the scene of a fire in north Lethbridge Friday afternoon.
The fire started following an explosion inside the garage of the house, located in the 2400 block of 7 Avenue North, around 12:30 p.m.
Firefighters arrived to discover heavy black smoke and intense heat, but were able to evacuate everyone, including two pets.
The explosion and subsequent fire left the residents uninjured, but one firefighter was sent to hospital as a precaution after being struck with falling drywall.
The home’s owner Bryan Beekman told CTV Lethbridge’s Terry Vogt that he rented the garage Friday morning to a couple who said they needed a place to stay.
The fire, Beekman said, left him in a difficult situation.
"Completely gone," he said. "My wheelchairs, my prosthetic leg, everything I had (is) gone."
Firefighters told Vogt there may have been four to six people inside the house at the time of the explosion, and everyone escaped unharmed, including the two people in the garage just before the explosion.
Fire investigators are working with Lethbridge police to determine what caused the explosion.
The fire department estimates the damage to be around $200,000.
