DETROIT -- Fire crews responded to a house explosion on Horton and Brush streets in Detroit on Monday.

Investigators said they are still trying to determine what caused the explosion that injured a man and his mother.

The explosion occurred around 9 a.m. and may have been caused by a man trying to light a hot water heater or heat the house with propane, Detroit police said.

Police said they found several propane tanks in the basement.

MichCon came to the home and dug a hole down to the gas line to shut it off so no more gas could get into the house, police said.

"It sounded like a car had hit a pole or something, but when I came out there was a lady screaming and that's when I ran down to the house and she came out," witness Kelia Robinson said.

Robinson said the man was still inside the home and people from the street were yelling for him to get out.

Firefighters said it does not take long for a fire of that nature to move from a basement to the top of a house. The house started to cave in and Senior Fire Chief Russell Arbuckle said he had to get all of his men out because it would be too difficult to fight from the inside.

"The house is a loss -- we don't want to lose any firemen over this," Arbuckle said.

Officials said the man is recovering at Detroit Receiving Hospital. The man suffered first-degree burns and his mother did not suffer any injuries.