A massive explosion leveled an upstate New York house on Wednesday in a spectacular blast that resembled "a big flame ball" and was caught on a neighbor's home security camera, officials said.
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the explosion that rocked Noel Drive in Gates, a small town in Monroe County just outside of Rochester, at about 6 p.m., firefighters said.
"It looked like a big flame ball," Ridge Road Fire District Capt. Brian Gebo said. "The house is no longer standing."
Firefighters and rescuers couldn't immediately find anyone in the house or any injured neighbors.
“There’s still an active search but we haven’t found anyone in the home or around the home so we’re still searching debris piles now, looking for any victims,” Gebo said.
Nearly 150 firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement officers rushed to the scene to put out a host of smaller fires around the neighborhood that were caused by the blast, Gebo added.
"It felt like somebody had hit my house with a car," neighbor Evan Montayne told NBC affiliate WHEC.
"I ran out, didn't see anything in the front yard, came back, and saw that the whole backyard essentially of my neighbor was just on fire."
