Children aged 9,11 and 17 were at home when an explosion erupted in their kitchen at about 8pm. 

Their father was taken to Mount Isa Hospital with “abrasions” to his face and arms. 

Police said it was not a gas explosion. 

“It looks like the guy was using pest spray in the kitchen then a flame was lit which caused a small fire,” a police spokesman said. 

The mother of the injured man said she only found out this morning. 

“Just looking at the house now is a shock,” the victim’s mother Bernice said. 

“What I heard happened was the explosion caused the stove to fire up and it hit him in the chest. He is out of hospital now and I am going to go and see him. 

“I am so thankful that nobody was seriously hurt,” she said.