Omaha home explosion
© KETV
A woman was killed Monday afternoon when an explosion leveled a north-central Omaha home and damaged several others near 65th and Sprague streets, a release from the Omaha Fire Department said.

She has been identified as Clara Bender, 30. Two others were injured. Investigators are referring to the area as a crime scene, but haven't explained why. The initial call for help came shortly after noon. "It was just like, boom," Dave Minor, who lives in the area, said. "It just rattled everything."
Omaha home explosion
© KETV
Fire Battalion Chief Tim McCaw says paramedics took two women who were in the house to an Omaha hospital. One was in critical condition, and the other was in serious condition. A 14-year-old boy was seriously hurt and taken to the hospital privately. A neighbor who was in a house next to the home that exploded suffered a concussion, cuts and bruises.


Multiple fire crews responded to the scene, with the initial crews reporting that one home was destroyed, and two other homes were considered "unstable", according to reports by firefighters at the scene.

"(I was) sitting on my front porch, heard a bang and you felt the explosion," said Mercedes Nelson, who lives in the area. "It shook the entire neighborhood. My sister was inside (and it) blew her electricity out instantly. Then it was just raining debris.

"I went out to see what happened, and the house was just gone. It was just rubble. (I) saw some guys helping a lady out. They kicked in the door and got her out. Police came and cleared out the area.

"Every door in the house slammed," said Jack Wagnon, who lives in the area. "So yeah, it was quite crazy."

Jeffrey Blounce said he was doing dishes Monday morning when he heard a loud boom.

"I thought it was lightning or something," he said. "The house shook. It threw me back a little bit, a little from my seat. I heard the kids start screaming. I came in the room, I turned the corner and I seen the bedroom ceiling had just collapsed. The hallway collapsed."

"The bookcase fell over on the couch where I was sitting, and my brothers just started screaming," said Zarah Blounce, Jeffrey's daughter. Jeffrey was able to get his children outside, but when he soon realized that his wife was trapped. "I had to pick the ceiling off of her," he said. "The ceiling collapsed on her. She was laying in the bed. She was sleeping."

With the help of neighbors, he was able to rescue his wife. "I had a higher power to help me," he said. "God came through for me." His wife was rushed to the hospital and is expected to be OK.

[Video: Witnesses feel blast blocks away]

Metropolitan Utilities District crews shut off the natural gas to the house and technicians surveyed the area, verifying that there were no natural gas leaks and that the natural gas facilities were safe.

Other crews reported other homes nearby were damaged by flying debris.

St. Bernard Child Care, one block from the explosion, had to evacuate the neighborhood, and parents were asked to pick up their children. Some broken windows at the school were spotted.

"We encountered a house that was completely obliterated," an official told reporters at the scene. "Everything was destroyed, except for the foundation. Debris had flown across the street to the east and to the south and to the north and to the west."

This is a developing story. We'll update as more information becomes available.