Multiple people were injured in an explosion at a street construction site in Arleta on Tuesday.
AIR7 flew over the scene, where debris was seen littered around the construction site at 14265 W. Van Nuys Boulevard. The blast reportedly happened around 3:30 p.m.
“I just heard a big explosion. Well, it sounded like lightning. You think it was lightning, but it really wasn’t. It was really hard. You could even feel it in your body,” said neighbor Manny Perez.
Just a few feet away from the construction site, a few windows were shattered in an apartment building. Video shows shattered glass across the lawn.
Fire officials confirmed that contract workers from the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water were working in the area before the blast.
Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics said four people were hurt in the blast, and three of them were taken to the hospital.
The three people taken to the hospital were all workers at the construction site, while the fourth patient was a female civilian who was walking by when the blast happened, LAFD said.
“We immediately treated and transported three of the four. The female patient adjacent was assessed, and she refused transportation,” said LAFD Battalion Chief Brian Franco. “We then called out Southern California Gas to understand the cause of it.”
AIR7 video shows workers being loaded into ambulances at the scene.
All four people who were hurt are expected to be OK.
It’s unclear what caused the blast, but the fire department suspects it may have been a welding-related natural gas explosion.
