Massachusetts house explosion kills woman, "heroic" neighbors rescue another from the rubble

A house explosion in Massachusetts early Friday morning killed one woman and sent another woman who was pulled from the rubble by neighbors to the hospital, CBS Boston reported.

The woman who died in the explosion in Berlin was believed to be in her 80s, the station reported. The fire chief said neighbors rushed to the scene to lift parts of the roof off the surviving woman as a fire spread. She is in stable condition at a hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening.

"It was very heroic for them to be able to get in and lift that up and get her out from underneath that," Berlin Fire Chief Michael McQuillen said of the neighbors' actions. "The fire was advancing very quickly at that point. . . the seconds matter. Definitely was a factor in saving her life and keeping her alive."

McQuillen said first responders were called to the scene at about 3:30 a.m. for reports of a house explosion at the 2.5-story wood frame home.

"It's basically completely leveled," he said. "When it exploded it came down upon itself so there was nothing really standing except for a debris pile when we arrived."

McQuillen said there was a "large debris field" from the explosion, and materials could be seen hanging from the trees above where the house once stood.

Firefighters were still putting out hotspots later in the morning. There was minor damage to other homes because of flying debris. 

The cause of the fire was not immediately known and is being investigated. 

Berlin is about 40 miles west of Boston.

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• Massachusetts
• Boston
• Explosion

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