House explodes in Northeast Philly

A house exploded Tuesday afternoon on the 6300 block of Algard Street in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia, injuring a 61-year-old man and drawing dozens of emergency crew members to extinguish a fire that raged for an hour.

Another man was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene.

The explosion occurred around 1:20 p.m., according to Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel, who said it would take time for authorities to figure out the cause of the incident. When fire officials responded to the scene, the front of the blazing rowhouse was missing and the second floor was engulfed in flames.

After being removed from the home, the injured man was sent to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and was in stable condition, Thiel said. Firefighters also evacuated four people from adjacent houses.

Rakym Dyer, 31, of South Philadelphia, said he was visiting a friend when the explosion occurred and helped the injured man out of the exploded home.

“I ran in because someone was screaming and everyone is sitting back,” Dyer said.

Thiel said it was “obviously a pretty scary day for this block,” and he was grateful more people were not injured.

Terry Ladwell, whose house sits directly across the street from the explosion, stood on his deck looking at the blackened husk. Ladwell’s wife was at home when she heard an earsplitting boom and saw fire erupt and called him, screaming.

”She saw the whole house in flames, saw them pulling the guy out of the house,” said Ladwell. “I just hope he’s OK.”

Staff photographer Tyger Williams contributed to this article.