3 hurt in apartment explosion

Three people were injured in an explosion in an apartment building on the Northeast Side Sunday evening.

All three were stable after being transported to a local hospital. The cause of the fire was undetermined Sunday night, said Battalion Chief Steve Martin, spokesman for the city’s fire division.

The New Albany Village Condominiums, in the 5800 block of Edge of Village, was evacuated along with other nearby buildings.

David Baugh, acting deputy chief with the City of Columbus division of fire, said it looked like the fire was contained to one or two of the units.

People living in at least three of the units — in the affected building and in ones nearby — were displaced at least overnight, until the building inspector could take a look on Monday, Martin said. The Red Cross was called to the scene to help them.

Those in the building where the explosion happened will not be back in for some time, Martin said, as there was some damage to the building’s structure.

Fire investigators on the scene determined that the cause was accidental and they have an idea of what caused it, but are waiting for lab tests to come back before releasing it, Martin said. Those tests will take a few weeks.

Gurdeep Singh, a resident of the building, said the people in the apartment where the explosion happened had just moved in a week ago. Singh, who lives next door to the affected apartment, wasn’t home when the blast happened but said his mother heard a boom and immediately went outside.

He believes one of the injured people was a technician installing satellite TV in the apartment.

Columbia Gas of Ohio crews were on scene assisting with the investigation, according to a release from the company.

It hasn’t been determined if natural gas was involved and all lines were operating safely and normally after the explosion, according to the company.