A Murrieta mother who was inside her home when a deadly gas explosion erupted is still in disbelief that she escaped the blast with only minor injuries.
A fire marshal forced Alexis Haaland to evacuate her Southern California home Monday morning after a solar company employee working at her house dug into a gas line. Utility company crews were immediately called to the scene to cap the leak.
About 45 minutes after arriving, the fire marshal allowed the 27-year-old mother and Navy wife to run back into her home to grab her wallet and a diaper bag. Haaland told her two kids and her mother, who were waiting on the other side of the street, that she would be right back.
"I felt a really big warm gust, and everything just started crashing around me," Haaland said. "I was just holding my head and screaming, ‘Oh my God, oh my God!’ Just waiting for something to hit me."