'SOME TYPE OF EXPLOSION:' Two taken to hospital after blast causes house fire on Calhoun in Destin (PHOTOS)

DESTIN — A man and woman were badly burned Thursday morning after an explosion caught their house on fire.

Destin firefighters responded to the explosion at 217 Calhoun Ave. just after 10 a.m. and had the blaze extinguished within five minutes, Fire Chief Kevin Sasser said.

Click here to see more photos from the scene.

The victims, both middle-aged, were taken by helicopter to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, and later moved to the University of South Alabama Burn Center in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday afternoon, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Michele Nicholson said.

The man is in severe condition, Nicholson said.

Sasser said there was an explosion but did not know what caused it. “There is gas involved,” he said.

A crew from Okaloosa Gas arrived at the scene to check for a leak after the victims were taken away.

The state Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the case.

Three people were inside the house when the explosion occurred, Sasser said. One of them was unharmed and all three were outside by the time the firefighters arrived.

The explosion blew off the garage door and skipped it over the windshield of a Honda parked in the driveway, according to firefighters at the scene. An armoire and several boxes were blown out of the garage into the driveway.

The blast also blew out the front door glass. A mat that was inside of the front door was sucked outside under the door, firefighters said.