WATCH: Northeast Lincoln home explodes, sending one to hospital

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — One person was critically injured Tuesday morning when a home exploded in northeast Lincoln.

Just before 1 a.m., Lincoln Fire & Rescue crews were sent to a home near 53rd and Gladstone streets on a report of an explosion.

Neighbors said they were awoken by “one big boom.”

“I heard the explosion and felt it,” Mekiah Zimmerman said. “So, I stood up to look out the window, and I saw a bunch of sparks flying out into the air.”

LFR spokeswoman MJ Lierman said one person was taken to a hospital with critical injuries.

No one else was injured, according to Lierman.

LFR and Black Hills Energy are looking into the cause of the explosion.

Additional units were called to the scene due to frigid temps, Lierman said.

Hoses were freezing, and crews needed to rotate so they didn’t spend too much time in the dangerous cold.

A part of 53rd Street was shut down as crews cleaned up the debris, but it reopened around noon.

Lierman said these explosions happen more during the winter.

“Everything is closed up in the cold, and so it’s more common because people are using the heat sources,” Lierman said. “But they can happen any time of the year.”