House Explodes in Calhoun

There were scary moments this morning in Calhoun when a house exploded. Ouachita Fire Fighters say there was a propane leak in the house -- and a cigarette sparked the explosion. "And then all of a sudden just like a concussion, I mean it was loud and then I could hear my son screaming,” said Jack Trost Jr. Jack Trost Jr. is talking about the explosion that ripped his house apart on Golson Road in Calhoun. It sent his son Jack and friend Julie Knight to the hospital with first and second degree burns. "I got water on them as quick as I could to cool their body temperature down,” said Trost. Trost says he was restoring what was to be his retirement home when suddenly he smelled propane......turns out it was a gas leak behind a space heater. "There was a little bitty gas valve that didn't get checked,” said Trost. Trost says someone lit a cigarette igniting the gas sending glass and sheetrock blasting into the yard. "That support wall saved me because it blew windows out all the way through the house,” said Trost. Fire officials say the four people in this home are lucky to be alive. "It could have blew the house completely off the blocks,” said Ouachita Parish Assistant District Chief Billy Nugent. Investigators say a little propane can pack a big punch or in this case $30 thousand worth of damage; this home is a total loss. "If you've got a space heater of a gas stove or something like that make sure all of them are off,” said Nugent. A sad ending for Trost who had just taken in his homeless son to a home that wasn't insured yet. "We were just days from moving in to little retirement home my son and I, Now I don't know what we're going to do,” said Nugent But more than a home, Trost is praying for his son and friend Julie. Ouachita firefighters say propane explosions are rare in the parish. The two injured were taken to Glenwood hospital with moderate injuries and are expected to recover.