BELL COUNTY (November 11, 2009)---A powerful propane explosion that was felt from miles away and that produced a cloud of smoke and debris ignited a fire that gutted a house Wednesday at 13181 Moffat Rd.

William A. Pitts, 90, who lived in the house, wasn’t injured because he was working on an adjacent house at the time of the blast.

One firefighter said he was near the Temple’s Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport at the time of the explosion and said he felt the blast and saw a cloud of smoke and debris rising into the air.

The explosion blew out the windows and walls of the one-story wood frame house and ignited a fire that gutted the structure, causing the roof to collapse.

Fire officials said it was a total loss.

It appears that a pilot light may have ignited the propane, firefighters said, causing the explosion and fire.

Pitts was in the process of moving to the adjacent home and will live there.