SEQUIM — A propane explosion and flash fire left a 57-year-old man with minor burns to his face and hands Thursday.
The unidentified 57-year-old man, an employee of Air Flo Heating Co. of Sequim, was working on the heating system connected to a propane gas source at a vacant house at 125 Horizon View Drive in the SunLand area when a small but powerful explosion blew off a house door connected to the garage, said Patrick Young, spokesman for Clallam County Fire District No. 3.
“He was doing something with the heating system that was connected to the propane system,” Young said of the fire reported at about 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
The man, who held a wet towel to his reddened face, was treated at the scene and transported to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles.
“I heard a crack, and the windows rattled,” said Mike Brunnell, a neighbor who lives two doors down Horizon View Drive from the home involved in the explosion.
“It was pretty loud.”
The heater was in an enclosed shop area inside the garage, Young said.
The blast tore the door off its hinges, which remained in the wall.
The garage wall and interior walls of the house nearest the heater unit were slightly bowed out by the force of the explosion.
The chimney cap leading to the heating system in the garage was blown off during the blast and lying beside the home.
The door, broken glass and other debris rested in the house’s driveway when firefighters arrived.
Responding firefighters with Clallam County Fire District No. 3 doused a small smoldering fire in insulation near the heater, containing it by 11 a.m., Young said.
Clallam County Sheriff’s Office investigators and District No. 3 investigators were on the scene Thursday to determine the cause of the fire.
Three firetrucks responded, along with more than 10 firefighters and backup vehicles.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
