HollyMatkinHurst, TX – The Hurst Police Department has released harrowing dashcam footage of the moment when a house exploded as police arrived at the scene of a crash.
The incident occurred on Apr. 7, when 35-year-old Alejandro Enriquez-Castro crashed his vehicle into a residence, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Unbeknownst to Enriquez-Castro and the officers, the collision severed the home’s primary gas line and meter, and caused an extreme gas buildup inside the structure.
Officer Travis Hiser’s dashcam captured the officers’ response to the home, and showed him as he casually walked over to the scene.
In a catastrophic instant, the residence exploded into a ball of fire and flying debris, sending Officer Hiser scrambling for cover.
“I did feel a giant wave of heat push over my right side,” Officer Hiser told KTVT. “I could see a lot of orange and flames before I shut my eyes.”
“It happened so quick, and so fluid, and so fast,” Corporal Ryan Tooker told KXAS. “It was more of just react, it was more of life-saving, than it was train on tactics or things of that nature.”
The officers rushed towards the sounds of screaming that came from inside the exploded structure, breaking down a door to rescue the three people inside.
“This is not a small home,” Cpl. Tooker told KTVT. “The entire roof was on the ground and these walls were blown outwards.”
Charles Bridges had been trying to help his wife, Dixie, out of the home, after she was injured in the initial crash, KXAS reported.
The subsequent explosion left Dixie with burns to nearly half her body. Charles also suffered from burns, and the couple’s 30-year-old son was injured as he attempted to rescue his parents.
Both officers were treated for minor injuries, and the injured residents were expected to recover, The Dallas Morning News reported.
“There was definitely some divine intervention that was reaching down and slowing those vehicles down from making scene and then taking a finger and pushing me away from the house and the path that I went,” Officer Hiser told KXAS. “Otherwise, I would have been up on the wall and it would have exploded completely into my face.”
Enriquez-Castro was uninjured in the wreck and explosion, but was arrested for failing to have a driver’s license.
He was also turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents due to an immigration matter, The Dallas Morning News reported.
You can watch Officer Hiser’s dashcam footage in the video below: