Weber County Man Survives House Explosion With Minor Injuries

HUNTSVILLE, Utah – An early-morning explosion left a Weber County home in a pile of debris. Across the street, a neighbor said he was just walking outside to head to work when it happened.

“I could feel it right in my chest,” Gibson said. “Just like a huge firework going off. It was a pretty huge explosion.”

Gibson said he didn’t hesitate, running across the street, and yelling for his neighbor, Mike Beaudry.

“Finally, when I got close enough, he replied back,” Gibson said. “‘I’m here,’ and I said, ‘are you okay?’ and he says, ‘I don’t know,’ and he started pulling himself out of the debris.”

Gibson said he grabbed Beaudry and helped pull him out. He called to his wife to call 911 emergency dispatchers, and used a first aid kit to start patching him up.

“That’s when emergency services started showing up,” Gibson said.

Firefighters said there were only a few minor hotspots, and fallen power lines were the only remaining danger. Gibson credited overnight rainfall for preventing spread of fire.

“It’s been dry, and all of a sudden we have that heavy downpour yesterday,” Gibson said. “That helped. Otherwise, I think more things would be on fire right now.”

Beaudry was treated and released at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, about 20 miles away. His dog was outside at the time of the explosion and was not injured. His daughter had left for school moments before. Gibson said timing helped prevent tragedy in many ways.

“Between that, and me being late for work, just everything was in the right place at the right time,” Gibson said. “He’s a real good neighbor. You couldn’t ask for a better neighbor.”

Fire investigators were still looking into the exact cause of the explosion. Gibson said Beaudry told him he heard a carbon monoxide detector alarm sound just before the explosion.