Firefighters know a recreation room exploded in flames late Sunday afternoon. The question investigators will try to answer when they visit the Brocklehurst home is why.

Residents on Glenview Avenue heard an explosion just before 2:30 p.m. The blast was followed by a jet of flames and a plume of thick, black smoke.

"I saw flames shoot out almost to that tree," said Austin Dent, 15, pointing at the yard in front of 2365 Glenview. "It was dark smoke and you could see the flames coming out."

Dent said the blast was loud enough to be heard from his house, which is several doors down the street.

He and his two brothers ran to investigate and were soon joined by other neighbours on the lawn across the street from the smoking home. Several crews from Kamloops Fire and Rescue arrived shortly after.

More than a dozen onlookers watched as firefighters fought back the flames. Battalion chief Dennis Stanley said the blaze was contained to the basement recreation room but smoke filled the rest of the house.

Homeowner Sherry Indelicato arrived to the sight of smoke billowing from her house, he said. She and another occupant declined to talk to The Daily News.

A woman walked to a waiting pickup truck with framed photographs in her hands. Neighbours managed to save two dogs and a cat from the house.

When Mike Tulliani first saw the smoke, he thought a nearby chimney was on fire. Then he saw the flames and decided to walk the block from his Tranquille Road home to investigate.

"You want to make sure everything is OK," he said, adding he's never seen anything like the heavy smoke.

"It's unreal."

Stanley said the fire destroyed the recreation room and blew out a window. Flames burned up the front of the house.

He said Emergency Social Services would care for the family.