Explosion blows windows out

A Mount Maunganui house had about 40 per cent of its windows blown out when a gas cooker exploded. Photo/Supplied

A Mount Maunganui woman says shes lucky to be alive after a gas cooker exploded in her kitchen on Saturday morning.

Eve Smith had been using her gas cooker to boil water while the power was out and said she had sat it on the stove top as it was a safe surface to handle heat.

The explosion smashed her windows, blew out window and door frames, brought tiles down off her roof and broke down internal walls.

Mrs Smith said she could not understand how the explosion happened and did not believe the element was on, however, thought the power may have been restored.

"It might have been to do with the power coming back on."

Standing only about 3m from the stove at the time, she considered herself fortunate to escape major injury.

"I was in the kitchen with my back to the stove. Ive just got a bit of burnt hair. Im very lucky."

Mount fire station officer Lindsay Nicol said they were called to a house in Jasmine Place with reports of an oven fire that had already been put out about 10.40am.

"I walked up the driveway and saw all the damage and thought it was definitely not an oven fire."

He said they understood it was a methane gas explosion from the small gas cooker, which he estimated to weigh only about 300g . He thought she may have left the element on while the power was off, not realising it had been restored, which was an easy mistake to make, he said.

He estimated about 40 per cent of the windows had been blown out, leaving glass everywhere, as well as window and door frames.

"Basically the canister has exploded, the liquid inside wouldve turned into a gas and the heat of the element wouldve ignited the gas."

"It has caused considerable damage to the house. The pot that was sitting on top of the cooker has been embedded into the roof above the stove."

"The cooker has projected downwards and shattered the stove top."

"She has suffered superficial burns to her hair and the side of her face."

"She has been extremely lucky. There had definitely been a fire ball of some sort."

He said the explosion could damage peoples internal organs.

Mrs Smith was taken to Tauranga Hospital for further assessment before discharging herself the same afternoon.

When she arrived home she said she was okay but feeling "a bit jittery looking at her home of 18 years."

"Looking at that mess, that's my home," she said.