Thornton Heath house explosion: Neighbours ‘stunned’ after blast

Emergency services have rushed to a house in Thornton Heath following an explosion.

A terraced house has collapsed and neighbouring properties have also been damaged after a fire and explosion in Galpin’s Road.

The London Fire Brigade said there were no injuries to report at this stage, but that firefighters were still searching the property.

Neighbours said they were woken by the blast at around 7am.

One neighbour, who lives two doors down and across the road from the house that exploded, said: “It sounded a bit muffled because I was still asleep.”

The neighbour only wanted to be identified by their Twitter handle @Dburch01.

They said: “Everyone else in the house wondering what was going on. It took the fire brigade about eight minutes to get there after I woke up.

“Honestly, I’m a bit stunned because this is one of the first instances of something like this happening. As for the house, I’m not sure, don’t really know the occupants that well. I’m feeling a bit mixed.”

The London Fire Brigade said six fire engines and 40 firefighters had been called to the scene after they received 13 calls about the incident.

In a statement the brigade said: “The brigade was called at 7.08am. Fire crews from Norbury, Mitcham, West Norwood, Woodside and surrounding fire stations attended the scene.

“The cause of the fire and explosion is not known at this time.”

The London Ambulance Service said it had “a number of resources on the scene”.

Metropolitan Police officers confirmed they are at the scene in Galpin’s Road.

Pictured top: Emergency services at the house explosion in Galpin Road (Picture: @Dburch01)