MIFFLIN TOWNSHIP — Rusty Cates heard pounding on his Becky Lane door Wednesday at 6:41 a.m.
He had no idea that hell was about to literally break loose on a bright summer morning with two explosions, a badly burned neighbor and three injured Mifflin Township firefighters at 987 Becky Lane.
“I looked out and it was my neighbor. He had significant burns over the top of his body and was in a panic. He said, ‘Rusty, help me get my wife out,” Cates said. The first explosion, believed to be a propane tank in an attached garage, had just occurred, he said.
Cates, who has lived in the house just north of the fire scene for 42 years, said his injured neighbor told him he believed a propane tank was leaking before the first explosion.
“There wasn’t much fire at that point,” Cates said. “But by the time I got to the house, (his neighbor’s wife) was walking across the street and then fire really started to develop.
“It was terrible. I think (his neighbor) was able to get through the initial moments because of adrenaline, or whatever they say, but he is not in good shape. He had burns on his body like I’ve never seen before,” he said.
(Above photos were taken by Rusty Cates on Wednesday morning at 987 Becky Lane in Mifflin Township.)
Madison Township Fire Chief Ken Justus was in his office when the first call came in at 6:48 a.m. about a house fire.
First to arrive, he found a man in the front yard with extensive burns and a fire coming from the center of the house’s roof, showing flames 20 feet high.
Justus said firefighters were told no one remained inside the burning house.
Mifflin Township firefighters arrived and began to battle the blaze from outside even as a Mifflin Township rescue squad began to assist the burned man. A Madison Township rescue squad transported him to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital.
His wife, who was not physically injured, was also transported to the hospital, the chief said.
“He had extensive burn injuries from his head all the way to his waist,” Justus said. “I think the estimate was 30 to 40 percent of his body is burned.”
(Below are photos taken Wednesday morning after two explosions and fire destroyed a house at 987 Becky Lane in Mifflin Township in eastern Richland County. The story continues below the photos.)
A second explosion
Things got worse just before 7 a.m.
“After we had begun firefighting, there was a secondary (suspected propane tank) explosion. Three firefighters were injured with shrapnel debris (from the house exploding),” Justus said.
“They were sent to the hospital by Madison medic units and Mansfield (Fire Department) medic units and then we called for additional tankers from multiple departments around the area,” the Madison chief said.
“One firefighter has quite a bit of traumatic injuries to his hands and he’s been sent to Columbus. The other two have minor injuries and they’re being treated (locally),” Justus said.
The blaze was fought by Mifflin and Madison township firefighters, assisted by water-filled tankers and personnel from Monroe, Washington townships in Richland County and Savannah and Mifflin townships in Ashland County, according to Justice.
The chief said about 35 firefighters were at the scene.
What happened?
The Ohio State Fire Marshal’s Office was investigating the blaze Wednesday morning, along with a representative from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Justus said he believed a large propane cylinder inside the garage “went off” to start the fire.
“It caused the initial explosion, and based upon the presence of multiple propane containers in the garage, we believe the secondary explosion was, also,” he said.
“They were 100-pound propane tanks, so they were of substantial size. We’re not exactly sure why they were in the garage, but we are aware there was at least three or four of them,” the chief said.
He said two of the injured firefighters were near the road, east of the burning structure. The third was on the south side of the house, using a hose to fight the fire.
The second explosion hurled material far from the house.
“There is a (propane) cylinder in the front yard about 250 feet from the structure that was thrown when it occurred,” Justus said.
The siding of the house west of the house fire was damaged from the heat. It also had a two-by-four piece of lumber thrown through a wall, he said.
“You just do your best to stay back as far as you can and be diagonal from the structure,” Justice said in terms of firefighting strategies.
“Hopefully, if it blows, it’ll blow directly out the wall and not come at you diagonally,” he said.
“It’s unusual for people to have those size (propane) tanks and that much in a building. But like I said, we’re not sure what the purpose was or why they were in there,” Justus said.