MELANIE S. WELTE
Associated Press Writer

DES MOINES, Iowa - A house explosion that officials said could have been caused by natural gas injured six people, including five firefighters, in Centerville in southern Iowa


Police Chief Tom Demry said Monday that the house caught fire Sunday after a transformer blew in town. Emergency crews were called to the area shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday, while the homeowner was out walking, Demry said.

Four Centerville firefighters, a firefighter from Mystic who had been driving by and another person who came to help were there when the home exploded, Demry said. He thought some of the firefighters were in the living room and at the door of the home when the blast occurred.

None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening, and all were expected to be OK, Demry said. Three Centerville firefighters were hospitalized at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines on Monday. One had been treated at a hospital in Centerville and released, he said.

The firefighter from Mystic and the private citizen were treated for burns at University Hospitals in Iowa City and released, Demry said.

Demry said a preliminary investigation pointed to a natural gas explosion, but state fire investigators would be there Monday trying to determine what happened.

"The roof and everything came in, but that was due to the fire. With the explosion, it didn't appear to damage the foundation or anything like that. But we haven't gotten in there and looked real far yet," Demry said.

A Monday telephone call to Alliant Energy, which owns the transformer, was not immediately returned.

Centerville is in southern Iowa, near the Missouri border.

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