PATERSON -- A powerful natural gas explosion rocked a city neighborhood Tuesday morning, leveling two homes, damaging 13 others and injuring the ears of 18 emergency responders.

Two houses were reduced to rubble in the blast, which occurred just before 9:30 a.m. in a three-story home at 16 Goshen Street. A third house will be torn down Tuesday evening and further evaluation will have to be done on two others once debris is cleared, officials said.

Fifteen firefighters were taken to the hospital in the aftermath of the explosion, Paterson Fire Chief Michael Postorino said. Four of the firefighters were treated for ruptured eardrums, and the rest for swelling in the ears.

Three police officers were also treated for ear problems. No residents were injured in the explosion.

Residents described a chaotic scene as police and firefighters raced to get people to safety minutes before the blast, after receiving a 911 call at 9:01 a.m. from a resident reporting an odor of gas.

Reham Abdall, who lives one house over from destroyed homes, said she woke up to a police officer in her house. The officer grabbed her by her shirt and pulled her outside, she said.

"They told us, 'Your house is going to explode'," she said. Authorities ordered those evacuating the homes to turn off their cell phones out of fear that a phone could ignite the gas, Postorino said.

PSE&G was on scene during the evacuations and gas could be heard hissing from inside the house when the explosion occurred at 9:24 a.m., Postorino said.

"Their actions went a long way," Postorino said of PSE&G.

Patty Castro, who lives two houses away, said she was about to leave for a medical appointment when fire trucks came roaring up Goshen Street and firefighters began ordering evacuations.

Castro said she put her four dogs into a cage and ran to the corner. She said she was outside for about five minutes when the house exploded.

"We ran. The man next door helped me with the cage. He carried it until we got to safety," she said.

Several blocks were cordoned off after the explosion, and firefighters doused the remains of the homes. The house at 16 Goshen Street is owned by Mustafa and Gulbahar Doguili, who purchased it in 2001, records show.

Paterson Mayor Joey Torres said he had spoken with the homeowners, whom he described as "shaken up." The mayor said 38 people were displaced by the explosion, and that the Red Cross was on scene.

The two homes that were flattened by the explosion, and the third that was damaged beyond repair, will have to be demolished before the street can reopen, said Alex Mendez, councilman at-large.

"It's been incredible. All the bad things that happened and there was no loss of life," Mendez said.

Electricity was expected to be restored by early evening to homes where it was turned off after the blast, Postorino said.

The utility company said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that it had shut off gas service to all homes on Goshen Street between Getty and Main streets. The service would be turned back on "when it is safe to do so," the company said.

PSE&G said it did not know the cause of the explosion and will not be able to inspect the gas lines that serve the residence until the debris has been cleared.

"Before today's call to 9-1-1 at approximately 9 a.m., PSE&G had no reports of gas leaks in this area and had routinely inspected both the gas pipe in the street and the service lines to the homes within the past two years," the company said in a statement.

The gas pipe in the street, which was installed in 1986, and the service lines to both 16 and 18 Goshen Street are all made of plastic, according to the company.

Goshen Avenue will remain closed through the night, as authorities continue to remove debris, Postorino said.

Some residents who live on the street, farther from the blast, will able to returned to their homes later in the evening, he said.

John Rios, 37, who lives across the street from the explosion, said he woke up shortly before 9:30 a.m. to his neighbor telling him that authorities were in the process of ordering evacuations.

When Rios left the house, he said, he could smell gas and police were gathering on his street. He was walking toward Getty Avenue when he felt the blast, he said.

"The shockwave, it hit me. I felt it in my heart," he said.

Rios said he turned around to see debris flying through the air. Debris also covered cars parked on the street.

"The house itself just blew up. Like something you'd see in a movie," Rios said.

Officials began towing cars that were parked on Goshen Street around 1 p.m. Many of the cars were covered in layers of dust and some were missing their side mirrors.

Cihad Yetis, 26, who lives a few doors down from the explosion said he was awoken by a loud crash. He said his car was parked right outside the homes that were destroyed and his rear passenger window was shattered.

Yolanda Mack, 40, said she heard the blast from her house several blocks away.

"It shook the house like boom," she said.

Charlie Hayek, who owns George's Deli on the corner of Getty and Goshen streets, said he first thought the explosion was a car crash.

"All of a sudden, out of nowhere, it just blew," he said.

The blast was reminiscent of a house explosion in Elizabeth in November that was caught on video. Four people died in that explosion.