An explosion rocked a Parkland neighborhood Tuesday night after a leaking propane tank blew up inside a boarded-up house, firefighters reported.
The house in the 200 block of Lafayette Street South had been abandoned, but a man told investigators he had been staying inside with the landlord’s permission.
He said he was using propane for either heat or cooking purposes, Central Pierce Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Dennis Lawson said.
On Tuesday night, the man had a fire going in the home’s wood stove when he noticed one of the three five-gallon propane tanks was leaking, Lawson said. The man got outside just before an explosion rocked the small house.
Central Pierce firefighters having dinner at station 61, about three blocks away at 100 S. 114th St., felt and heard the explosion, Lawson said.
“We thought (a car) may have struck our building,” he said. “It was a pretty good explosion.”
Firefighters went outside and looked around the building. They didn’t see anything amiss and went back into the station.
A short time later, the firefighters were dispatched to the home on Lafayette Street. They could see flames and smoke from a couple of blocks away.
The home was engulfed in flames by the time crews arrived, Lawson said.
Lawson said crews doused the flames quickly. The Red Cross was called to assist the man who’d been living in the home, which was destroyed.
Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268
stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
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