Bart Hogan was just arriving for work when the explosion decimated the house across the street. He says he saw a thick cloud of smoke and debris but as it began to clear, he heard a woman frantically calling for help locating a baby.
"Once she told me there was a baby there... I've got three little ones myself," he said. "I just went to find the baby."
Hogan ran toward the rubble, with the woman pointing him to what once was the living room. Then somehow, he says he saw a tiny hand sticking up out of the debris, like it was waving hello.
Hogan scooped up the little body and rushed the infant toward the street. That's when Morgan Heintz got there. She heard the explosion and called 911. First she saw the two women who were injured.
"It was horrific," she said. "They were telling paramedics, 'It hurts. I can't see.' I can just imagine the pain that they're in."
The horror of what happened didn't sink in right away for Heintz, or the women at the center of the blast.
Investigators say the baby, the child's 65-year-old aunt and 58-year-old grandmother all suffered burns and trauma. The blast was heard as far away as Lake Conroe. Debris from the home was blown over a 300 foot radius around it. The force of the blast caused damage at homes across the street and blocks away.
Hogan does not consider himself a hero.
He said, "Not really. I don't think I am. I did something I would want somebody to do for my family. Anybody else would have done the same thing."
Both women were flown by Life Flight to Hermann Hospital in Houston with life threatening injuries and burns. The infant was flown by PHI Air Medical Helicopter to UTMB Galveston, also suffering from critical burns and injuries.
At this time, investigators suspect the explosion resulted from a build up of flammable gases in or around the home, but the exact cause of the explosion has not been determined at this time. An investigation is ongoing.
Find Kevin on Facebook at ABC13KevinQuinn or on Twitter at @kquinn001
