NEWS 9 was first at the scene on county Road 56, talking with neighbors, the fire department and town officials.

The initial call into the Pleasant Hill Fire Department was a propane leak. According to investigators, Sunday night the Walter family smelled gas and, erring on the side of caution, decided to spend the night elsewhere. They returned Monday morning to get ready for school and work.

Reports are they still smelled the gas, then called the fire department and headed out for school. As it turns out, all the children were out of the house, as well as the babysitter. But the father, Eric Walter, was just closing the door when the house blew to pieces.

Pieces of the home were strewn about the neighborhood, across the street, in trees, and in neighbors' yards. Firefighters sifted through the debris, looking for any evidence of a cause and remnants of the family's belongings.

The Walters family home is now nothing more than a memory. The blast at the home was heard miles away and neighbors said it literally sounded like a bomb had gone off.

It was so powerful that it shifted one neighbor's house several inches from it's foundation. "When I got here, the gentleman from FEMA told me that the house was basically condemned because it had been blown an inch an a half off the foundation," said Steven Meyers, a neighbor.

Eric Walters was taken to Mercy Hospital and is in critical condition. The babysitter and six children who were outside the house were treated for minor injuries.

Paul Spradley, NEWS9