3 injured in explosion at Stockton apartment complex

By Web Staff

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    STOCKTON, California (KPIX) — An estimated 130 people are out of their apartments just before Christmas after a baffling explosion at an apartment complex in North Stockton. The explosion left three people injured, including one with severe burns.

It happened Friday evening at the Inglewood Gardens apartments at Inglewood and Glendora avenues.

Video obtained by CBS Sacramento shows flames and severe damage at the two-story building. A witness to the incident said the explosion came from a downstairs unit where you could see walls leveled and flames out front.

“Her daughter actually was inside her apartment when the explosion went off and she said it was a big boom and shook the whole apartment,” said Tim Penero who lives in a separate building at the complex.

Rita Martinez is relieved her daughter is OK, but concerned and wanting to know what happened. She told CBS13 what her daughter said moments after the explosion.

“[She said] my ears hurt, because it was very loud. I was so scared. I freaked out,” said Rita.

The entire 83-unit complex was closed due to the investigation, forcing people to evacuate.

Utilities also had to be cut off. PG&E expected this outage to last for several hours while crews investigated what caused the explosion.

Two of the injuries were described as minor while the third person suffered serious burns, officials said. There’s no telling how long people will be out of their apartments as the building is compromised.

“Extensive damage. The unit that we believe the explosion happened in, it blew walls out in all four directions so obviously that impacts the units above and adjacent to,” said Stockton Fire Department Battalion Chief Steven Islas.

While the cause of the explosion is under investigation, police were questioning at least one person.

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