NATCHEZ &8212; Gene Ridgaway and his wife went from having a comfortable country home and an irreplaceable collection of cars and guns to having nothing in a matter of

minutes.

The Ridgaway&8217;s house was the victim of the April 5 natural gas pipeline explosion on Louisiana 131 in Vidalia that left its mark only through charred trees and melted metal.

&8220;I was coming home across the (Mississippi River) bridge when about five ambulances passed me and I wondered, &8216;what in the world was going on,&8217;&8221; Ridgaway said. &8220;Then I looked over to the left and saw the big fireball

in the sky and almost knew it was my house. I lost everything I own.&8221;

Ridgaway said when he got to his house the fire was still burning, but the officials on the scene said it only took about five to seven minutes for the house to be completely burned.

Two parallel gas lines run across the Mississippi River, they are connected by a collar at the terminal point on Louisiana 131, which happened to be too close to Ridgaway&8217;s home.

Workers were digging near where the explosion occurred, but the exact cause of the explosion has not yet been determined. The workers said they heard a pop and immediately ran from the machines to safety, escaping a potential death.

Ridgaway also has horses, which were in the surrounding fields, but managed to survive. Some are now &8220;wheezing real bad,&8221; he said.

&8220;When I got close to my house they had the

road blocked off not letting anybody through,&8221; Ridgaway said. &8220;I had to get home to check on my animals, so I turned around and went all the way around through Vidalia.&8221;

Ridgaway&8217;s collection of cars lost in the explosion included a car which he said was thought to be the only one left in the United States.

&8220;It was a 1929 Dodge DA series Doctors Coupe that was one of about 20 left in the world,&8221; Ridgaway said looking back over the charred rubble. &8220;You will probably never see another one of those in your lifetime.&8221;

The car, which had been on display in a museum for eight years in New Mexico, sat on four melted wheels and sheltered the dried puddles of metal that Ridgaway said used to be the engine.

Ridgaway has a ranch in New Mexico, but wasn&8217;t sure if he and his wife would go there now.

Ridgaway,

pathology director at Community Hospital, said he has been staying at a local hotel waiting on the insurance adjusters to finish, and was really saddened by one thing.

&8220;People are coming in here digging around taking stuff when I&8217;m not here,&8221; he said. &8220;I pulled some old tools out of what&8217;s left and laid them on the table over there, and now they&8217;re gone.&8221;

Ridgaway also had a collection of 47 rifles and 20 to 30 pistols that were lost in the explosion.

Miraculously, one thing did survive the estimated 3,000-degree explosion, Ridgaway said.

&8220;It&8217;s a clock inside a ceramic angel,&8221; he said holding the small white angel.

&8220;It&8217;s the only thing I could find that didn&8217;t get broken, smoked or nothing.&8221;