The house on 130th Street exploded in a roar of flames just before 3 a.m. Thursday.
Police officers had responded to a 911 call of a domestic dispute at the home, and a suspect armed with a knife.
As they arrived, they smelled gas coming from the structure and were met by a woman, who gave them the keys to her basement apartment.
The officers were attempting to enter the apartment to look for her estranged husband when the house exploded.
Seven police officers and a police sergeant were injured in the blast. They were rushed to an area hospital for treatment of minor burns and are expected to be OK.
All 11 residents of the building, who live in the basement and first and second floors, have been accounted for. Seven lived on the first and second floor another four lived in the basement.
The suspect, believed to be the estranged husband who no longer lives in the home, remains unaccounted for.
The house quickly collapsed in the blast, and firefighters spent hours attempting to keep the flames from spreading to neighboring homes.
They have been unable to search the remains of the basement apartment until National Grid shuts off the gas line. An excavator is being brought in to dig up the street and access the line.
Three of the residents of the multi-family home are being treated for minor injuries.
The exact cause of how the dispute triggered such a massive blaze remains under investigation.
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