House fire triggers explosion in Salisbury, North Carolina

2025, December 23

United States

In the evening of Monday, December 15, a house in Salisbury, North Carolina, exploded during a fire, injuring twelve firefighters and two civilians. All firefighter injuries have been described as non-life-threatening, and included concussions, sprains and bruises, as well as smoke inhalation; all firefighters have been released from the hospitals by Tuesday, December 16.

Out of the twelve firefighters - eleven from Salisbury and one from Spencer - seven have returned to the full duty by Friday, December 19, and five were recovering at home from their injuries.

According to the Salisbury Fire Department's Facebook post published on Tuesday, December 16, "On December 15, 2025 at approximately 4:56 PM, Salisbury Fire Department was dispatched to 1143 Laurel St in reference to a possible structure fire. Fire personnel arrived in four minutes and found heavy fire conditions throughout the rear of the single-family house. Fire personnel immediately launched an offensive attack to extinguish the fire. It appears that during the offensive attack, a gas line exploded inside the residence. The explosion compromised the structure’s integrity, causing the roof to collapse." As stated by Salisbury Fire Chief Bob Parnell, the building was already engulfed in flames by the time his crews arrived - and then, after the firefighters entered the building, the explosion blew out the walls and simultaneously lifted the roof, with the blast knocking the masks off the firefighters' faces.

The force of the blast was powerful enough to cause the exterior walls to blow outward, and the roof lifted up before collapsing back down onto the structure}, and the blast displaced multiple residents, with the American Red Cross providing assistance.

The Salisbury Fire Investigation Taskforce is undertaking an investigation into both the initial fire and the explosion that followed. The taskforce is working with other authorities, including North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and North Carolina Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Mayor Tamara Sheffield stated on the city's website that "Our hearts are with the family who lost their home in the fire. Losing a home means losing a lifetime of memories." and expressed her "deepest gratitude to the firefighters who responded to this call."