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Daniel Ortiz has the story:

Daniel Ortiz reporting
When the fire fighters put out the blaze inside the kitchen of the Amos family apartment, they found almost everything devoured by the flames.

Ted Smith - Fire Chief
"At approximately 5 minutes after 10, or 1005 hours this morning, we received and responded to a structural fire on Iguana Street. On arrival, we found #16, at the northeastern portion of #16 on Iguana Street on fire. The Department immediately went into operation, contained and extinguished the fire."

That blaze started after Pastor John Amos turned on the stove to boil a pot of water. They had no idea that this simple act would start a fire in the kitchen.

Their 3 children, who were supposed to have been at school, stayed home today because of the cold front which affected their health.

Voice of: Juliet John - Fire Victim
"We had our morning devotion this morning, and afterwards, we went to the kitchen to put on some water, and left the kitchen. The biggest came to us and said, 'Mommy, there is fire in the kitchen.' We ran there, and found the fire. We had to call 911."

The first thing that came to our mind was safety. We reached for the key because we had 2, the burglar gate, and then everybody went outside. My husband went back in to pick up some of our documents.

During that time, the fire enveloped the kitchen area, and spread to the area where they kept their LPG tank. As you can see, it now looks like a curved metal sheet, caused by its explosion.

The fire experts believe that before that happened, however, the intense heat and the high pressure of the LPG inside forced a breach on the tank. That breach then allowed gas vapor to escape, and with the fire around it, the circumstances were ideal to ignite it. That created a kind of blow torch which then sprayed ignited LPG fuel onto the refrigerator. The force and intensity of the makeshift blow torch then melted the freezer door, and carbonized the frozen food inside. That's until it finally blew up and intensified the fire in the kitchen.

Ted Smith - Fire Chief
"The tank ruptured during the fire and pealed open, due to the heat, the pressure, the build-up pressure, and the exposure to tremendous heat on the external of the tank, the product boiled and then exploded, what we would call a "blvee" - a boiling liquid vapor expansion explosion. That's what occurred after the tank was exposed to excessive amounts of heat that occurred. And that helped to intensify the fire, resulting in the fire damage to the kitchen area of the building."

Voice of: Juliet John
"The explosion actually shook practically everyone in the neighborhood. I could see the fear in my baby, and I had to take them somewhere."

Police Constable Chun - Iguana Street Resident
"I heard a loud sound. I just saw firemen coming out, and they told us to come out. So, I tried to come out."

This family now has to put their lives back together, which will be difficult and costly. But, they are very grateful that none of the members of the family got injured.

Isani Cayetano - Channel 5
"What damages have your property sustained."

Voice of: Juliet John
"Basically, seemingly the damage is just the kitchen side, and the extension to the kitchen."

"I bless God that everybody is safe. My babies are safe; my husband is safe; I am safe. Life is safe, and no damage to life whatsoever, praise God. Every other thing can be taken care of."

The pastor and his wife are hoping that you can assist them to put their lives back together. If you would to help, you can call them at telephone number 605-9715. Emails addresses are betimor2000@yahoo.com, and roljohnfe@gmail.com.