Idaho investigators: Leaking propane led to home explosion

Idaho state fire investigators say a teen girl who was badly injured in a home explosion told a guardian that she smelled gas the day before the explosion, but the adult disregarded the warning and instead blamed the smell on dirty laundry.

Sixty-nine-year-old Jonathan Robinson Field Jr. was killed in the March 17 explosion that leveled the McCall home. Idaho State Fire Marshal Knute Sandahl says the 15-year-old girl remains hospitalized but said her recovery has been “miraculous.”

Sandahl said during a press conference Wednesday that investigators determined the explosion happened after heavy snow piled on the home’s propane meter and regulator caused a fracture in the propane pipe within a wall of the home. Leaking propane pooled in the crawlspace of the house, eventually overflowing into the first floor, where it was ignited by the furnace.

You can view our previous story HERE.