The Ontario Fire Marshal has been called in to investigate the cause of an explosion and house fire on Cedar Crescent.
Barrie Firefighters responded to multiple calls about a blaze just before 4 p.m. on Thursday with possibly people trapped.
"There was a daycare at this residence so at the time we did have reports possibly some of the children and the occupants of the residence were still inside," said Acting Platoon Chief Domenic Filippelli.
When firefighters arrived they quickly extinguished the blaze and confirmed all residents were out of the home.
Neighbours say a husband who uses a wheelchair and his wife, both seniors, operate the home daycare.
Barrie firefighters say it appears the blaze originated in the garage.
The garage windows were blown out and the fire burned a large hole in the garage roof.
Neighbours reported hearing a loud bang. One man says he felt the force while sitting in his living room several houses away.
“I heard the bang and actually felt the ground move a bit. It was very scary,” said Brian Daniels.
“All of sudden it was big bang. The amount of smoke was incredible. You couldn’t see the street,” said Katrina Cassin.
"We heard the garage windows popping. Like bang, bang, bang. It was like firecrackers."
There was a vehicle parked in the garage and firefighters believe at this time the 'boom' was from inside the structure.
Cassin says everyone jumped in to help at the scene.
She and two other neighbours helped move the husband away from the area by fetching his wheelchair.
"He was just sitting on the curb. We had to help him into the wheelchair and get him out of the way of the smoke. He was pretty shaken up," said Cassin, adding another neighbour brought the man some water.
She said a firefighter from another department who lives across the street helped prep everything for Barrie Fire.
Two dogs were brought to safety with the home owners.
Fire crews prevented the blaze from spreading to the home, although the abode did suffer smoke damage.
"At this time we don't believe this is suspicious," said Filippelli. "We can peg it about $70,000 damage."
Luckily, the home had working smoke detectors that Filippelli says alerted the residents who also had an escape plan.
"They executed the plan and even though, as you can by the damage, the fire started and spread quite quickly, they were all able to get out because they had working smoke detectors and there was some form of a plan in place - being a daycare - to get everybody out as quick as possible."
The occupants will be provided with temporary shelter through their home insurance, according to Barrie Fire.
