Rescuers rushed to the scene of a three-alarm fire and explosion at a townhouse in Columbia, Maryland, shortly after 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, police said.
Callers reported that the home "exploded," according to tweets from the Howard County Fire and Emergency Services Department.
A neighbor said she smelled smoke and called BGE, WBAL reported. Before the explosion, a worker went to the 12200 block of Sleepy Horse Lane and told the caller to call her neighbor, who wasn't home.
When firefighters got to the townhouse, one townhouse was "fully engulfed" in flames, firefighters said. The house sustained extensive structural damage; three other units caught fire.
A BGE worker was hospitalized with burn and blast injuries, and a resident in the area was hospitalized with smoke inhalation. Other neighbors were evaluated for smoke inhalation, but declined to be taken to hospitals. At least one person was rescued from a neighboring unit.
Firefighters got the blaze under control around 10:50 p.m.
Howard County Fire is investigating the cause of the incident. Several townhouses are still being evaluated for structural stability, authorities said. At least six townhouse are expected to be uninhabitable, they said.
