Locals in Cheltenham were forced to evacuate after an explosion left a woman injured and her home in ruins.

A woman was taken to the hospital yesterday night after a terrifying incident in which a huge explosion caused a house in Cheltenham to catch fire, destroying the entire property.

Emergency services arrived on scene quickly on Thursday night in response to the incident in the town’s Springbank district. Due to the fire’s ferocity, several nearby residences had to be evacuated while firefighters fought to contain the conflagration. Dramatic video of the situation showed smoke and flames overtaking the area and the house—possibly a bungalow—being reduced to rubble.

In an effort to put out small areas of fire, the Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service (GFRS) stayed on the site this morning. After receiving emergency care, the hurt woman was taken to the hospital.

The first explosion scared the locals, which prompted a search and rescue operation at the Springbank Way home. Witnesses reported the scene as chaotic, with one homeowner describing it as “big explosion and fire with loads of blue lights near my house.” “There was a house explosion on Springbank Way,” said a second.

A4013 Princess Elizabeth Way was closed in both directions as a result of the building fire, according to Inrix, disrupting traffic from Coronation Square to A4019 Tewkesbury Road. This was a significant road closure in the area.

In a statement released Friday night, the fire department stated, “GFRS are on site at a building collapse at Springbank Way, Cheltenham. In addition to the police, fire, and ambulance services, we have specialised search and rescue teams from Avon FRS participating in the multi-agency response.

The adjacent properties have been evacuated, and one female casualty has been treated on the scene and sent to the hospital. Crews are currently doing search and rescue operations in addition to putting out little fires, and they plan to be there for a while.”

For safety reasons, people in the vicinity were encouraged to keep their windows and doors closed and residents were asked to stay away from the area.

“We had an emergency 999 call come through at 9.48 pm alerting us to a fire in Springbank Way in Cheltenham,” a Gloucestershire Police spokesperson said. Police are still present at the area after responding as a grade one emergency. This is a developing event, and we think a bungalow is on fire.” The reason of the explosion and fire is still being looked into.