Meanwhile, a patient who was described as stable was transferred to Middlemore Hospital in Auckland where there is a serious burns unit.
Several neighbouring houses suffered major damage, including blasted walls, caved-in garage doors, smashed windows and eaves.
Culver's property is one of those, and while he and his wife were allowed home, it's uninhabitable.
"Our house is one of the ones that will not have power or gas - our house [is] shut off at the main access point to the property," he said.
"The roof is leaking everywhere because it raised up and came back down, it's leaking all over the place on to our belongings."
A gas contractor who worked on the house which exploded on Thursday fronted police officers on Friday.
He made himself known voluntarily and suggested to first responders they might want to talk to him - sources said he was devastated by what happened.
A police spokesperson said they are only physically preventing access to house number nine - the affected property.
"The occupants of the other houses are being referred to their insurance and the council," they said.
"There will be police and Armourguard in the area overnight providing security and assurance to people in the affected area. [Another] cordon is still in place."
Meanwhile, Culver said his wife had been his rock during the rough few days since the explosion and was glad they were together: "that's the important thing".