COLLEGE WARD, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Two people were injured in a home explosion in Cache Valley Thursday morning, and an off-duty sheriff's deputy is being credited with helping to save their lives.
According to the Cache County dispatch, the explosion happened at about 10:30 a.m. at 2907 South 2400 West in College Ward, a farming community located just south and west of Logan.
Two victims were injured. One is 27-year-old Tony Sorenson and the other is 23-year-old Mary Sorenson. Tony was flown by helicopter to the University of Utah Burn Unit in Salt Lake City. Mary was transported by ambulance to Logan Regional Medical Center.
Shane Zilles is a 6-year veteran Cache County Sheriff's deputy who lives nearby the Sorenson home. He was working in a field with his father when they heard the blast.
"We looked and saw a mushroom cloud," said Zilles.
Zilles and his father got in a truck and drove to the debris field and called out to see if anyone was there. They soon found Mary walking through the debris, trying to use her cell phone to call 911. She was bleeding but coherent.
Mary told the Zilles that her brother was downstairs. Zilles and other neighbors then ran back into the wreckage and found Tony in the basement buried under sheet rock and lumber from the home. They dragged him to safety, and when they got outside, there was another explosion as the fire from the initial blast spread.
Other witnesses also report that both victims were coherent and speaking with emergency personnel as they were being transported. Zilles said Tony was badly burned.
The home belongs to a couple who is serving an LDS mission. Tony and Mary are the couple's children.
A Cache County Sheriff's spokesman said the explosion was most likely related to a propane tank at the home.
Stay tuned to ABC 4 News and ABC4.com for more on this story.
