Seattle Explosion Levels Buildings, Injures Firefighters

SEATTLE— A natural gas explosion rocked a Seattle neighborhood early Wednesday, sending nine firefighters to the hospital and reducing businesses to rubble.Crews were responding to reports of a natural gas leak when the explosion happened along the m...
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Seattle Explosion Levels Buildings, Injures Firefighters
Firefighters move a hose into position as flames burn in the rubble left from an early morning explosion Wednesday, March 9, 2016, in Seattle. The explosion heavily damaged buildings and injured multiple firefighters. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The Associated Press
3/9/2016
Updated:
3/9/2016

People walk past shops near a building explosion in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood early on March 9, 2016. (Genna Martin/seattlepi.com via AP)
People walk past shops near a building explosion in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood early on March 9, 2016. (Genna Martin/seattlepi.com via AP)

Gregg said eight men and one woman were treated.

A man who lives nearby told KOMO-TV that the blast shook him out of bed.

“Thought it was an earthquake; way too loud to be a gunshot. So I got out of bed, checked on the family, and my family’s good. So I went outside and saw smoke,” Josh Coolbaugh said.

Crews worked to shut off natural gas in neighborhood. Puget Sound Energy spokeswoman Christina Donegan said a survey team will then move in.

Donegan said their focus will be to determine if there was an issue with gas to the building or something inside the building.