A house in Boston was 'leveled' by a suspected natural gas explosion Wednesday morning, prompting the evacuation of about 40 homes as a precaution, according to reports.
Despite the destruction of the house — which was not far from the home of the city's mayor, Thomas Menino — there were no reports of any injuries following the blast at about 8:30 a.m.
"It seems it was an apparent gas explosion and the house has been leveled," Eddy Chrispin, a spokesman for Boston Police, told the Boston Herald.
The Boston Globe reported that the owner of the home, Michael Burns, was at work when he began receiving calls to say his house was in ruins. He had left for work at 6:45 a.m.
"I just couldn't comprehend it. I just couldn't comprehend what happened,'' he told reporters, according to the paper.
Burns added that he did not know where he was going to live and that all his possessions had been destroyed. However, he did have insurance.
No one was in the house at the time, the Globe reported, with Burns' partner of nine years currently out of the state.
Felt like quake
A neighbor, 78-year-old Gertrude Foley, told the paper that she was awakened by the sound of the blast and feared "the world was coming to an end."
The mayor was not at home when the explosion happened, but his wife was.
Menino, who went to the scene, said his wife described the blast as like an earthquake. "That's the thing about life, you don't know what is going to happen," he told the Globe, promising the city would give what help it could.
A spokeswoman for natural gas firm NSTAR said the explosion occurred after a Boston Water and Sewer contractor cut into a gas line, enabling gas to leak into the house, the Globe said. NSTAR said the gas was ignited by an unknown source.
Firefighters were investigating whether the blast had damaged other houses and several roads in the area were closed, the paper added.
The Globe said police were assisting with evacuations and two buses had been sent to take people out of the area.