Car slams into apartment building causes explosion; injures 3

WESTMINSTER, CA (FOX 11) - Three people, including a 3-year-old girl were hospitalized following a car crash that caused an explosion at an apartment complex Saturday morning.

According to tenants, a woman meant to back up, but accidentally drove her mini SUV forward into a water heater closet.

The Orange County Fire Authority said when the crash caused a gas leak, which caused an explosion.

OCFA noted that the three people taken to the hospital and the other injured person treated on the scene were not in the sole unit affected by the crash.

The Salcedo family was not home at the time of the crash, but siblings Vanessa and Jay came home and saw the black Toyota RAV 4 had crashed into the water heater in the garage located right underneath their unit.

"I smelled the gas and I saw water leaking and I told her 'let's go and I'm going to go pump gas'," Jay told reporter Leah Uko.

"By the time we came back they already had the whole street closed down."

OCFA stated there was cosmetic damage, but no structural damage.

The Red Cross was on scene to help the Salcedo family find temporary housing.

"It's enough to get us maybe through maybe two weeks," Vanessa said. "But they said it might take up to two months."