A mother and daughter have been taken to the hospital after a house explosion in Taunton, Massachusetts, on Wednesday morning, fire officials say.

The explosion was reported at a three-family home at 78 Plain St. Video from the scene shows a home engulfed in flames.

Taunton fire officials say a mother, 25, and her 2-year-old daughter were transported from the scene. The mother was taken to Rhode Island Hospital with serious burns. The daughter was also burned and taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital with serious injuries.

Investigators believe the mother initially got out of the house on her own, Taunton Fire Chief Steven P. Lavigne said at a press conference. She went back in for her daughter, which was when she was hurt.

A third person, the mother’s boyfriend, was initially reported missing, but was located a short time later. He was not home at the time.

Emergency crews responded to a house explosion on Plain Street in Taunton, Massachusetts, on Wednesday morning, with multiple injuries reported, according to the state fire marshal’s office and mayor.

“The situation is now under control, but this was a very serious incident,” Lavigne said in a media statement. “The weather conditions present unique challenges, but we plan for these situations.”

Utilities in the neighborhood have been shut down, Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell.

Two other homes were damaged by the fire. One was vacant, and no one was home at the other at the time. Around 10 people are displaced.

A warming center is available for displaced residents at the senior center.

Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell tells NBC10 Boston that three people were burned, and their conditions remain unclear.

The cause of the explosion remains under investigation, though fire officials did confirm they are looking into this was a gas issue.

Eversource was called in to assist at the scene.

“We have gas personnel on site coordinating closely with fire officials in response to the incident in the area of Plain and Hart streets in Taunton. We are actively investigating the issue, and continue to work with local and public safety officials,” the company said in a statement.

The State Fire Marshal’s office said there is no further danger to the rest of the neighborhood.

State Police fire investigators are responding to support the Taunton Fire Department.

Gov. Maura Healey said she’s been briefed on the situation.

“I’m keeping those hurt in the explosion, their loved ones, and their neighbors in my prayers,” the governor wrote on X.

The public is being asked to avoid the area.

This comes after Taunton received around 30 inches of snow during Monday’s blizzard, with cleanup efforts still underway. Officials said the snowy conditions made the response more challenging.

“We had our police officers digging out fire hydrants when they got here,” O’Connell said.

Frosty got a growth spurt!

A Massachusetts family’s second-annual construction of a goliath snowman was packed with a little extra cushion after Winter Storm Hernando tore through the state, boosting it to a whopping 23-feet tall.

Parker the Snowman, initially measuring 20-feet high and 21-feet wide, shot up an extra three feet on top of a four-foot expansion outwards after the weekend blizzard buried the state in snow.

The behemoth’s architect, Eric Aalerud, admitted to WHDH that he “was more sore” while undertaking the annual project “than anything” he’d attempted in the last decade.

His wife, Katie Aalerud, told CBS News that Eric built their first family snowman in November 2024, just after welcoming their daughter Emerson, while he “was going stir crazy in the house.”

He constructed the snowman from a massive snow pile that only kept growing over time, until it became its own roadside attraction with light-up features. Katie’s only problem was its “creepy” glowing red eyes, which were swapped out for blue this year.

Katie told NBC10 Boston that her husband used a snowblower, shovel, wood, ladder and “water to freeze everything” to pile up the snowman and keep it together for weeks on end.

The faux top hat on Parker’s head is made out of “a trash barrel and plywood, spray-painted black,” Katie said. The eyes, buttons, and large tree branch arms are all adorned with bright lights so that passersby can see the frosty fellow as they drive up the hill near their Shirley home.

“Last year it dwindled slowly, and I would say probably at the beginning of April when the last of it finally melted,” Katie told the outlet.

The Aaleruds plan to build a bigger and better snowman each year for as long as they are able.

During a rare snow day Monday, hundreds of New Yorkers sculpted their own snowmen and other snow structures, including makeshift igloos, throughout the city — but none so big as the Aaleruds’ masterpiece.

The Massachusetts State Police hired an outside firm to review how the agency handled a fatal cruiser crash involving an allegedly drunk officer more than two years after the incident occurred.

State Police Sgt. Scott Quigley is accused of having a blood alcohol level above the legal limit when he crashed his cruiser head-on into a wheelchair van in Dec. 2023, causing injuries to one of its occupants, Angelo Schettino, who later died.

The allegations came to light in a wrongful death suit that Schettino’s family originally filed in Essex County against the van company that now includes the Mass State Police.

The revelation has sent ripples through the state, pausing the Lowell murder trial of brothers Billy, Channa, and Billoeum Phan earlier this month. Quigley had been a key investigator in the case when he was embedded with the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.

Middlesex DA Marian Ryan had asked the State Police to initiate the independent investigation after learning about the fatality in the crash and Quigley’s alleged blood alcohol level in January, more than two years after the incident.

“In the interest of transparency and in order to promote public confidence — and to ensure justice for any potential victims — I am requesting that you immediately appoint an independent investigator to conduct a full and fair inquiry into why no notification was made to this office,” she wrote in a Feb 4 letter to State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble.

In Nobel’s reply, dated Feb. 20, he wrote that investigators from the national firm 21CP Solutions will conduct the review, “focused on the handling of this incident and the internal policies and controls that should have ensured timely awareness and notification.”

The independent investigators will examine how the MSP currently handles serious on-duty incidents, including their notification process, supervisor response, and documentation policies.

“A serious incident resulting in the loss of life demands timely notification, rigorous oversight and complete accountability,” Noble wrote. “Any deviation from these expectations is unacceptable, falls short of public expectations and risks undermining confidence in the justice system.”

At the end of the review, the investigators will recommend changes to training, policy, and procedure.

The review will run parallel to a Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office investigation into Quigley, examining whether the officer will face criminal charges linked to the crash.