HARDYSTON — A house was completely obliterated following an explosion Tuesday night that could be felt for miles around.

No one was inside the house on Grumm Road when it exploded around 11 p.m., according to the Hardyston Township Volunteer Fire Department in a post on its Facebook page.

Hardyston Fire Chief Anthony Ceglia told the New Jersey Herald the family that lives at the two-story home was away on vacation. A photo tweeted by the newspaper showed nothing but rubble left where the house stood near Wallkill Regional High School.

The fire department said the blast damaged windows at a neighboring house and structural damage to the high school, which will be closed on Wednesday. Witnesses told the newspaper that fiberglass and sheet rock were scattered all over the Sussex County high school's parking lot.

A cause of the explosion was not yet known, according to the fire department's post. Fire crews were cleared from the scene by 2 a.m.

Denise Doug told New Jersey 101.5 the explosion in Sussex County was felt as far away as Wharton and Mine Hill. NBC 4 New York reported it was felt in Rockaway.

"What the hell? Was that an explosion? Just scared the hell out of all of us here," Kelly Ann Hart wrote on her Facebook page.

Diane Johnson wrote on her Facebook page that she lives six miles away but her house and windows shook.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.

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