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Belleville  (KMOV) -- A Belleville man is seriously injured following an early morning house explosion that leveled a home and damaged more than a dozen nearby houses. 

A dectective investigating the case says that the explosion is considered suspicious.

The gas explosion happened around 4:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of Orchard in a neighborhood along 161 just northeast of town.

When emergency crews arrived on the scene they found debris from the home scattered around the neighborhood, debris hanging from the trees and the woman and the daughter who lived in the home standing outside unharmed.

Inside, firefighters found the man who lives in the home.  He was badly burned and was taken to a hospital. He is in serious condition.

Police are investigating this incident as a criminal case.

Detectives say the husband and wife who lived in the home were fighting on Thursday night. Neighbors are telling investigators that the husband tied up his wife and the child and turned up the natural gas.

The mother and daughter were able to escape, but the husband was heard screaming when the house blew up.

The fire chief tells News 4 that 12 to 13 homes around the blast were peppered with shrapnel that in some cases may have penetrated through the walls and into the houses.

Several neighbors in the area say they had damage done to their homes in this explosion.