Lompoc Fire Department investigating home explosion

Scary moments Monday afternoon for residents of a home on East Pine Street in Lompoc after an explosion ripped through their home.

Lompoc City Fire responded to a call of smoke coming from a home at the corner of East Pine and Third Street.

Firefighters arrived on scene to find a single family residential structure with smoke showing and one victim with extensive burns to his upper body.

A small, active fire was quickly extinguished.

The burn victim was airlifted to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment, a family member says he’s since been taken to a burn center in the L.A. area.

Another burn victim was treated at the scene and released.

A family member that shares the home says he believes the explosion and fire started in the laundry room.

“They heard a loud explosion which all I can think of would have been the gas from the dryer”, said resident Don Cantrell, “they tried to get it out, one of my nephews got some burns, the other one got minor burns, the other one is a little more serious.”

The Lompoc Fire Department says the explosion and fire caused significant damage to the home with a rear wall separated from the foundation.

Four residents have been displaced until further notice.

“There is some structural damage in the back, the outside wall, we’re not going to be allowed to go in until this is all taken care of”, Cantrell said.

The Lompoc Fire Department says the cause of the explosion and fire in the home is under investigation.