Explosion destroys Mansfield home

MANSFIELD, Texas - A home in Mansfield was completely destroyed after it exploded and then caught fire Thursday afternoon.

The homeowners say it was only by chance that nobody was home when the explosion happened. The only structure left standing was the carport.

Mansfield Fire says the explosion happened shortly after 1 p.m. There were multiple reports to 911 of an explosion or a loud boom. When firefighters arrived, the house was fully involved.

The family that lived at the home says they just had a heating and air conditioning company at the house working on their propane furnace moments before the explosion happened.

"They came in and worked on the heater this morning because she hasn't had heat for a couple of days,” said Karen Hordern, the homeowner’s daughter. “They said that they had to go get another part and that they would be back Monday to finish it. And we had left, and so it happened.”

While Horden didn't say the name of the air conditioning company, firefighters said they will be speaking with the company during the investigation.

Hordern said they normally would have been home at that time but decided to go get something to eat. Miraculously, no one was injured. The fire didn't spread to the other house on the property.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Of the family's four dogs and a cat, only two dogs have been found. The name of one of the surviving dogs is Lucky.