Neighbours ran to help and wrapped a woman in blankets after an explosion in her home.
Emergency services were called to Oak Leigh in Tuebrook just before 9.30pm yesterday (April 6) after receiving reports of an explosion inside a terraced house. When they arrived, the house was on fire and had suffered significant damage.
Nobody was seriously injured but the house's bay window was blown out into the front yard.
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When the ECHO visited the scene on Friday (April 7) morning, rubble remained in the house's front yard and there were shards of glass in the street. Neighbours came out into the road to look at the damage and to speak to each other about last night's events.
The woman affected was said to be in her 60s and lives alone. She was reportedly helped out of her home by an off-duty nurse who then called the emergency services.
One neighbour said the woman was more worried about the safety of her cat and wanted to run back inside, but was urged not to, to find it.
Gaynor Boyle, who lives further up the street, told the ECHO: "My whole house shook. At first, I thought it was fireworks.
"But there were two explosions. The first bang brought everyone out into the street and then the second one happened - after that everyone was shouting 'get away'.
"The scene was hard to describe, the house was on fire and there was just light coming from it.
"She was shaking, so I brought her some blankets. Another lady came out with a chair. It's the sort of street where everyone looks out for each other".
Another neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "At first, I thought someone had rammed into my front door and was trying to put it in. There were two bangs, I was frightened to open the front door.
"The whole street came out. She's lucky to be alive".
A man who lives in the area said: "We all jumped up when it happened, we thought cars were getting broken into at first. At least she's ok".
Neighbours said she was taken to Aintree Hospital but had not suffered serious injuries.
A cordon was in place across the road last night as firefighters worked to tackle the fire. The house was boarded up at around midnight.
The cordon has today been lifted.
It was previously reported the fire was following a gas explosion, however after investigation, Cadent confirmed today gas did not contribute to the incident.
A spokesperson for gas company Cadent said: “As the gas emergency service we were called to an incident in Tuebrook last night. Our engineers were on site assisting the emergency services and making sure everything associated with gas was safe, as is routine in incidents like this.
“We carried out thorough checks and it became clear that gas did not contribute to this incident, so we handed back to the fire service so that they could investigate the cause”.
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service has been contacted for comment.
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