An explosion in Riverdale early this morning has levelled one house and damaged at least three others, killing one person and sending another to the hospital.

The house at 17 Bates Cres. was reduced to a pile of rubble and broken timber in the blast.

Deputy Fire Chief Jason Wolsky said officials believe the injured person was in the home where the explosion occurred, while the deceased was in a neighbouring house.

The late resident’s name has not been released.

According to the Yukon Land Title registry, the house at 17 Bates Cres. belongs to Timothy, a well-known longtime lawyer in Whitehorse, and Hilary Preston.

A Whitehorse General Hospital spokesperson confirmed to the Star that Timothy Preston was admitted to the hospital this morning.

The Star’s request for an update on his condition was denied by the family.

A statement from the City of Whitehorse said the injured person has “critical injuries.”

The blast occurred at about 5:30 a.m.

The cause is still under investigation by the Whitehorse Fire Department and the RCMP, according to Wolsky.

A Facebook post from the City of Whitehorse shortly after 8 a.m. said they do not believe there is any further risk to public safety.

Mayor Laura Cabott called the explosion “devastating and a shock to the community” in an interview with the Star this morning.

The power was also knocked out to 40 area homes by “flying debris,” according to ATCO Electric Yukon manager Tony Badry.

It was restored to most by 10:30 a.m.

In an email to the Star, Badry said four homes still did not have power as of late this morning and will require an electrical inspection first to ensure safety.

Wolsky said he expects the crescent to be closed to non-residents for a few days as officials conduct their investigation.

They first need to get an idea of how big the blast actually was.

“We are going to get some aerial images of it to see the blast radius,” he said.

After that, they try to build a picture of what happened.

“Well, it’ll start with interviewing any potential witnesses… looking into the history of the house, or the construction, talking to any neighbours,” Wolsky said, “and then we’ll slowly pull the scene apart to see if we can determine what caused the explosion.”

Felt like an ‘earthquake’

Michael McIsaac lives across the street and was taping tarps around his windows this morning after they were damaged in the blast.

At first, he didn’t think it was an explosion.

“We felt a shake — we thought an earthquake at first — and so we gathered ourselves and looked outside and realized that our neighbours’ two-storey house is now just a pile of rubble,” McIsaac said.

It took McIsaac a few minutes to make sure his own house was even safe enough to move around in.

“The big bay window, it actually has come out from the building and most of the glass is shattered, so we’ve had a lot of structural damage,” he said.

“The structural integrity of the house we’re not sure about at this time — a lot of the doors won’t close, a lot of the walls are slanted.”

Despite what he’s dealing with, McIsaac said his thoughts are with the neighbours across the street.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their family, and what they must be going through is a lot worse than what we’re going through,” he said.