HAMBURG, N.Y. — Police say a woman is dead and a man remains in the hospital in critical condition following what they are calling a "catastrophic" home explosion on West Lane in the town of Hamburg Monday night.

According to Hamburg Police, Joene Pease, 78, was killed, and John Pease, 78, remains at Erie County Medical Center.

Police say the incident prompted multiple calls that came in just before 9 p.m.

“There was debris all over the road [and] people everywhere. There was reports of different things going on that we had to figure out real quick,” said Bill Schnorr, assistant fire chief, Lake View Fire District.

“You hear the call come out as a house explosion and you think, ‘that's horrible,’” said Capt. John Baker, town of Hamburg Police. “Not until you arrive on scene and see the magnitude of what took place could you possibly grasp the scene here.”

More than 200 emergency responders from 20 agencies worked to put out flames and search the debris.

Three neighboring homes suffered structural damage with one a total loss after catching fire from debris.

“There are garage doors that are pushed in. There are windows that are blown out," said Sean Crotty, emergency manager, town of Hamburg. "Some of the residents a little bit further down the street, very, very cosmetic and nothing structural.”

Hamburg resident Paul Gleason came to the scene to check on his in-laws. 

"Neighbor a couple houses down, he has a scanner," Gleason said. "He was a retired fireman so he told me it was on West Lane. My in-laws live here so I figured I better come over and it scared me because everything's in front of their house. Terrible and scary. I just felt bad for the people and everyone else around."

Insurance adjustors were going door to door as the investigation continues. 

“There is a lot that has to be done here, which is why we will be cautious in what we say [for] the cause here,” said Baker. “We are not going to speculate and say, ‘yes, it was probably this’ or ‘no, it probably wasn't this.’”

Police say three first responders were treated for minor injuries and released.