Man recalls smell of gas just before fiery blast destroyed one home in Hibbing, then his own

A man whose home was consumed by a flames from a fiery explosion at a house next door said Tuesday he smelled some form of gas shortly before the blast in his Iron Range neighborhood.

The blast shortly after 6:30 p.m. Sunday erupted in a two-story home in Hibbing in the 2200 block of 9th Avenue E. and left at least one person injured, according to the Fire Department.

The house was overwhelmed by flames by the time fire crews arrived, a Fire Department statement read.

Emergency medical responders took one person to a nearby hospital for treatment.

David Kyle Peterson, 52, was in critical condition at HCMC, according to an online fundraising campaign started on behalf of Peterson, his wife, Missy Peterson, and a grandson who lives with them.

“In an instant, the place they’ve called home for over 20 years was gone,” the fundraiser’s organizer wrote. “This wasn’t just a house—it was where they raised all three of their children, built countless memories, and now were raising their beloved grandson Jax. Thankfully, their two dogs made it out safely, but everything else was lost."

The flames spread to a home next door, where firefighters declared that fire under control by about 9:15 p.m., according to the Fire Department statement.

In an interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, Damien Zegoski said he and his husband, Ronnie Zegoski, were home when “I noted a smell of gas in the air and mentioned it to Ronnie, but we didn’t think anything more of it.”

Damien Zegoski said he thought it smelled “like propane or gasoline.”

Then came “a loud boom and fireball was seen,” he said. “The fireball went straight to our south side and blew all our windows out. We immediately ran to the front door, and I called 911. By the time I finished the call, I could see fire and smoke in our house.

“I ran inside and called for the cats and tried to check hidden spots but was pulled out by a policeman for safety concerns.”

Damien Zegoski said his family arrive to the scene, “and we watched our new place we called home burn. ... Unfortunately, they recovered our two cats too late.”