It happened around 7:45 p.m. Monday on the 1200 block of South 20th Street.
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The entire facade of the rowhome was blown out, bricks were strewn about the street, covering the cars parked outside.
Chopper 6 over the scene of a building collapse in Point Breeze.
Peter Ash and his 12-year-old son Jordan were inside the home when the explosion occurred. They escaped with minor injuries.
"We just heard a big boom and I felt heat all over my hand and face," said Peter Ash. "I had no idea that the whole front of the house had come off. It was an explosion, like a military explosion."
"I was playing on the PS3 and all of a sudden I heard a loud noise and the whole wall just fell down. I thought it was a tornado," Jordan said.
Help came right away as the home is right next to the 17th Police Station and Engine 24 of the Philadelphia Fire Department.
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Both were evacuated as precautionary measures in case the home collapses.
Neighbor Vivian Black had just been outside the home only minutes prior.
"All of the sudden, I was standing out there talking to another neighbor and a 'Boom! Boom!'" she said. "I had never seen anything like it. The whole front of the house came up. I just left there ten minutes before it happened."
Explosion blows the facade off house in Point Breeze
The 17th District Station is closed until it can be inspected.
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Police said 911 service is still operational; officers will be working out of the 1st district building.
Fire officials and PGW are investigating.
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