MT. AIRY — Mt. Airy residents who thought they heard an explosion Monday night were not mistaken.

“A resident had a pile of brush and other things from the storm and from cleaning up around their residence,” said Mt. Airy Police Chief Tim Jarrell. “They used an accelerant and ignited it from a distance. That caused an explosion.”

No one was hurt in the incident that occurred in the backyard of a home near the railroad tracks in downtown Mt. Airy, and no damage was reported.

Cornelia Fire Department responded when the explosion was reported.

“We asked the fire department to extinguish it,” Jarrell said.

Jarrell said based on information gathered by the responding officer, the resident doused the brush pile with gasoline then essentially used a projectile firework, like a Roman candle, to ignite it from a distance.

Since there were no injuries and there was no property damage, “we warned them of the dangers of using a highly-flammable material in trying to start their brush fire, and tried to educate them on safer methods of ignition,” Jarrell said.

The name of the residents were not released since no charges were filed.

Asked if alcohol was factor, Jarrell said, “There is no indication that alcohol or anything like that was involved.”