EAU CLAIRE - A fire official says no one was hurt when an empty vacation home exploded in western Wisconsin, damaging at least five other cabins.

Almena Fire Chief Greg Rayment says deputies at the Barron County Sheriff's Department felt the blast about 9:15 p.m. Thursday. Crews rushed to home on Upper Turtle Lake, which is about 90 miles northeast of Minneapolis.

"This was a big ball of fire," Rayment said. "What's lying here was completely engulfed. There were huge flames."

He says the home's owner lives in Minnesota and was not there. The next door neighbors escaped injury because they were on a pontoon boat.

Rayment says a gas leak may have caused the blast, which is still under investigation.

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