(WSBT) Officials say eight homes near the explosion were damaged. Most of the owners spent the day checking that damage.

Many of them are counting their blessings.

WSBT spoke to three of those families Friday.

One of them lives in the house directly across the street from the home that exploded.

Neighbors say, for them, it could have been much worse. The pictures and the stories are hard to believe.

"I was delayed by ten minutes and as it turns out I would have probably been getting home about 8:13, which is the time it happened,” John Billington told WSBT News.

Billington says stopping for gas may have saved his life.

"It's painful emotionally,” he said. “But, also physically.”

He lives across the street. His family was at home, less than 100 feet away from the explosion.

“The heat wave and the fireball came all the way in our house,” he explained. “Glass was flying everywhere.”

Neighbors spent the day assessing the damage from shattered glass to broken windows, salvaging everything they could.

"All we really lost was a little bit of our innocence and a couple of breakables,” said neighbor Tommie Lee. “But nobody who lives on this block is ever going to forget that sound."

It was a sound that left a neighborhood in shock, but feeling blessed.

"We feel, like we said, a little rattled, a lot rattled, but incredibly fortunate,” Lee said.

"The fact that only one person was hurt is crazy,” said Danica Kulemeka. “It's amazing ... it's a blessing."

The Red Cross is helping those displaced by the explosion. They had a shelter set up at a nearby church, but they closed that Friday afternoon.

However, they do have someone on call 24 hours a day for anyone who may need more help.