WEST PALM BEACH, Fla-- A West Palm Beach family is grateful to be alive after they say their refrigerator exploded inside their home Saturday morning.
The force was so powerful it caused significant damage in several rooms. Luckily a neighbor heard the explosion and ran inside to help the family get out safely.
“I was in my room I was asleep and I just heard the bang,” said Mark Ligondie.
Ligondie quickly ran from his bedroom to the kitchen where moments before his parents' refrigerator exploded.
“There were fumes coming everywhere,” said Ligondie.
He says the odor was so strong and that it made his eyes sting.
“The fridge exploded and if you look at this angle right here it expanded and expanded so much it bent the metal of the stove,” said Ligondie.
The family's 4-month-old Whirlpool refrigerator was in pieces, scattered throughout the kitchen and surrounding rooms.
Their next door neighbor, Joshua Perez, rushed over to help after hearing the loud bang and smoke alarm.
"Immediately I just see the smoke,” said Perez.
Luckily no one was hurt. The fire department showed up and cleared the home.
“And for them to say we’ve never seen this, this is something we have never seen in our life is kind of alarming,” said Perez.
Perez believes this incident is a wake up call for all homeowners.
“I’ve actually scheduled an appointment already because of how nervous this has made me just for general maintenance and I think that’s something everyone should do,“ said Perez.
NewsChannel 5 reached out to Whirlpool for comment and they responded with the following statement, "Whirlpool is committed to providing safe products for consumers. We are working quickly to look into this incident."
The model number of the fridge was WRS325SDHZ00.
Meanwhile there's now cracks in the family's ceiling and nearby walls, damage to the master bedroom door and a bedroom window is missing.
"It's surreal," said Ligondie.