An efficiency apartment exploded Monday night, leaving one person in the hospital and several others homeless for the night.

Capt. Scott Siberski of the Ames Fire Department said they received a report at 8:43 p.m. that there had been an explosion with a fire at 825 Wilson Ave.

He said there were two apartments at the location, and the back apartment – a living room and a kitchen – had exploded.

“We believe the apartment is gone,” Siberski said. “There is no dollar estimate, but it’s gutted.”

One person sustained injuries which were fairly severe and was transported to Mary Greeley Medical Center, he said. However, the name was not released at press time.

“I do not know the extent of the injuries right now,” Siberski said.

Marcus Johnson, associate scientist at the Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, and LeAnne Rohrberg, graduate student in animal ecology, live in the upstairs apartment at 825 Wilson Ave. They said they did not know their neighbors very well or who exactly had been injured.

Johnson and Rohrberg said they have lived at the location since August, and the plumbing was recently redone. They said they hadn’t had any problems with the utilities or the apartment in the past.

Johnson said he thought four people lived in the complex, and the police would not let them stay because of the possibility of another explosion.

“It’s just really smoky up there,” he said. “There is no real damage.”

Neither Johnson nor Rohrberg were around when the efficiency connected to their apartment exploded. They said they first learned of the incident when they were coming home from a mountaineering club meeting about 9:30 p.m.

They are hoping to be back in their home today after having to evacuate last night.

“Depends on what the fire crew says,” Johnson said.

Siberski said the fire department would begin investigating the cause of the explosion this morning.