A row house neighborhood in Philadelphia was reduced to what looked like little more than a war zone on Monday, and investigators are still trying to piece together just what happened. 

In total, eight people were injured, including one baby, in what was described by residents as an explosion. That explosion occurred at an unoccupied home that was being renovated. A contractor working in the basement was critically injured during the accident, which shook many of the nearby homes.

"I was in the shower and I thought my house was about to fall down," said Christie Scibblo, a 26-year-old mother of four who lives four houses down from the site of the explosion. "I ran outside and I saw a firefighter rescuing an infant."

The explosion took place in a neighborhood lined with interconnected two-story brick houses. Houses on either side of the house in question were badly damaged during the explosion, with significant portions of their adjoining masonry walls completely gone. Fires soon started after the blast, endangering the life of one infant.

"They threw this baby out the window because the girl was on fire and the fireman had to catch the baby," recalled one witness, Mike McGraw Jr.

Authorities still are not sure what spurred the blast. Nearby gas services were promptly turned off after the explosion and the neighborhood was soon evacuated. Before firemen arrived, local citizens took it upon themselves to help their fallen neighbors during the aftermath.

"I threw on my shoes, ran down there and helped three people out of the house," said local resident Joe Szymborski. "It's just instinct. Anybody would do it for anybody else around here. We're all neighbors and friends."

Rescue workers soon came onto the scene to sift through the rubble. As of Monday afternoon, everyone who was believed to be in the area was accounted for, and it is not believed that anyone was trapped under the fallen house.

The scene on Monday was eerily reminiscent of another building collapse that took place in Philadelphia earlier this summer. Last month, a collapse occurred at a demolition site in the city, with the building falling on top of a Salvation Army that was open for business. Six people were killed and another 12 were injured in that incident.