Rubble from an apparent gas explosion in a row of homes is strewn along a block on Santa Fe Boulevard Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, in Denver. Firefighters say 10 people have been injured, one critically, in the apparent explosion, which leveled a portion of a brick row house just south of downtown. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
Rubble from an apparent gas explosion in a row of homes is strewn along a block on Santa Fe Boulevard Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, in Denver. Firefighters are still determining how many people were injured in the explosion, which leveled a portion of a brick row house just south of downtown. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
Search and rescue team members from the Denver Fire Department head to the scene of an apparent gas explosion in a row of homes Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, in Denver. A portion of a brick rowhouse was leveled in Tuesday’s blast just south of downtown. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
Rubble from an apparent gas explosion in a row of homes is strewn along a block on Santa Fe Boulevard Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, in Denver. Fire officials are still determining how many people were injured in the blast, which leveled a portion of a string of brick row houses just south of downtown. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
A worker checks for a natural gas leak near the scene of an apparent gas explosion in a row of homes along a block Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, in Denver. A portion of a brick rowhouse was leveled in Tuesday’s blast just south of downtown. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
Denver Fire Department firefighters keep watch on the rubble from an apparent natural gas explosion in a row of homes strewn along a block Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, in Denver. A portion of a brick rowhouse was leveled in Tuesday’s blast just south of downtown. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) 
A Denver Police Department officer, left, instructs a motorist on how to fill out an accident report after his car was hit by a wall of rubble from an apparent gas explosion in a row of homes Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018, in Denver. A portion of a brick rowhouse was leveled in Tuesday’s blast just south of downtown. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
DENVER | Nine people were injured, one critically, by an apparent natural gas explosion in Denver on Tuesday, firefighters said.
Capt. Greg Pixley, a spokesman for the Denver Fire Department, said seven bystanders were treated for minor injuries and released after a portion of a brick rowhouse was leveled in the blast just south of downtown. A man was critically injured, and a woman who was pulled from the debris is in stable condition.
Pixley said some of the injured were burned, and the fire department is working with Xcel Energy to determine what happened.
Pieces of wood were thrown like sticks, and bricks were spilled on the ground in front of the one-story building.
Alexander Ponton, whose car was hit by the blast, said he and a few other people helped pull a couple from the debris.
“As I got in front of that building, it blew up right next to my car,” he said. “Threw my car over a foot and a half to 2 feet. … After it blew up, all you could smell was gas. That’s all you could smell.”
Alex McMahill, who was working at a nearby auto repair shop, said he heard the blast and thought a vehicle had fallen from its lift.
“I just started running,” said McMahill, who also helped pull people from the debris.
“I’m thankful for my friends, my family, and I hope that everybody could be safe because it’s a crazy life,” he said.
