WATCH: Chicken coop ignites explosion while family on vacation

PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - While vacationing in Florida on Monday, an Upstate family got an alarming update about their home in Pickens.

“I got a message from a neighbor asking why there were so many emergency vehicles at my house,” said Wendy Watson in a post on Facebook. She was at Disney’s Animal Kingdom with her husband and two youngest sons.

The family has a chicken coop and was keeping some chicks under a heat lamp, which they believe started a fire. The fire ignited a nearby gas tank used for lawn equipment, causing an explosion she described as “almost unbelievable.”

The dramatic footage was captured on the family’s security system.

Watson said their son who was housesitting was not hurt and shockingly, most of their hens survived. She is thankful for a passerby who saw the fire and called 911, along with the first responders who put it out.

“The response from the fire department was apparently just remarkable,” she said. “I feel grateful and blessed.”

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