Neighbours launch DIY SOS-style plan to help family whose home was reduced to rubble in gas explosion – as daughter says it’s a ‘miracle no one was seriously hurt’ after ‘BOMB-like’ blast heard for miles around
- None of the three people inside the semi-detached family home in Bude, Cornwall, suffered serious injury
- Paramedic Darren Cornish, who was visiting parents’ home, said he smelled gas before explosion happened
- All three fled wreckage with their neighbours’ help, picking their way over breezeblocks and window frames
Neighbours have launched a DIY SOS-style plan to help a family whose semi-detached home in Cornwall was reduced to rubble when all three of its exterior walls were blown off in a gas explosion heard over a mile away.
Miraculously, none of the three people inside the home in the seaside resort of Bude suffered serious injury.
Paramedic Darren Cornish, who was visiting his parents’ home, said he smelled gas and the explosion happened after he opened the kitchen door.
With the help of neighbours, all three of them were able to stagger from the wreckage of their home, picking their way over breezeblocks and window frames. The family said that the explosion ‘sounded like a bomb going off’.
Demelza Snell, the couple’s daughter, said that her brother Darren and mother Josie had both suffered burns to their face and hands while her father Alan, who was sitting in the living room, was unhurt.
The house in Bude, Cornwall, was completely destroyed by a gas explosion although no one was seriously hurt in the blast
Demelza Snell, pictured with her husband Dan Snell, said: ‘We were all gobsmacked by what the house was turned into’
Despite the force of the blast in Bude, the family suffered relatively minor injuries including burns to their faces and hands
Covered in bruises and with half his house blown away, paramedic Darren Cornish miraculously survived the explosion
The explosion happened around 9pm with several neighbours also evacuated due to the unstable structure
A double bed is exposed to the street from an upper floor room hanging precariously after the support collapsed below
Paramedic Darren Cornish, 48, was enjoying an evening at the house in Bude in front of the television when he smelled gas
Rubble lies on top of a yellow Mini Cooper parked outside the destroyed property in the Cornish town of Bude
Offers to have come via a page the family set up on social media titled Bude DIY SOS, based on the title of the BBC’s DIY SOS
Her mother had initially been treated for her injuries at North Devon District Hospital then discharged. But she had been readmitted to Southmead Hospital in Bristol four days after the explosion due to an infection.
Her daughter said she remained in ‘good spirits’. ‘It is a miracle that nobody was seriously hurt,’ said Demelza. ‘Apparently it sounded like a bomb going off and people a mile away thought it was a thunder clap.
‘We were all gobsmacked by what the house was turned into. We could not believe our eyes.’
She added that the family had been overwhelmed by the generosity of local people who had been in touch to say they ‘want to help with everything, even building a new house from scratch’.
Offers had come via a page the family set up on social media titled Bude DIY SOS, based on the title of the BBC television series DIY SOS.
She said: ‘We are so overwhelmed. We’re still waiting on documents and insurance to let us know [what we can do], but everyone is just willing to crack on.’
Miraculously, none of the three people inside the family home in the town in Cornwall suffered any serious injury
Fire crews said it was ‘quickly established that all persons were accounted for, and remarkably, there were no serious injuries’
Dramatic photographs showed how the house was completely destroyed following the gas explosion in Bude, Cornwall
The couple who live at the home didn’t have any insurance on their property and many of their possessions were destroyed
Witnesses described hearing a loud bang as large parts of the property in the Cornwall town of Bude completely collapsed
The couple who live at the home, which was destroyed in the gas explosion, have three children and six grandchildren
People look at the shocking aftermath of the gas explosion which completely destroyed the house in Bude, Cornwall
Pictures taken from the outside of the home in Bude showed a double bed exposed to the street from an upper floor room
Darren Cornish said he had smelled gas at the home in Bude and the explosion happened after he opened the kitchen door
The explosion took place last Wednesday. Fire engines from Bude and Holsworthy were sent to the scene along with specialist shoring equipment to help stabilise the two storey semi-detached house.
Glenn Thorne, Wales & West Utilities gas emergency service manager for Bude said: ‘We were called to reports of an explosion at a property in the Traly Close area of Bude and immediately sent a team of engineers to the scene.
‘On arrival we found that the property had been damaged and emergency services were in control of the scene.
‘We worked with the emergency services to make the area safe and carried out all necessary gas safety checks. We have found no evidence of a mains gas leak in the area and the property itself was not connected to our gas network.
‘The cause of the explosion is still being investigated by the emergency services, however, we do not believe it is related to the mains gas network.’
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