Explosion levels Dayton house
<p>Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake The wreckage of a rental home fills the lot at the corner of 7th and C Streets on Monday afternoon, April 16, in Dayton. The house exploded Friday evening. First responder Jason Heffner of the Chief Cliff Fire Department estimates he was on the scene and calling dispatch at around 11:30 as debris from the blast was still falling from the sky. Heffner said the investigators have not made an official ruling on the cause of the blast yet, but a propane furnace is suspected. The blast completely destroyed on house and did structural damage to the house next…
DAYTON — An explosion and fire over the weekend destroyed a house and damaged three others in the small town of Dayton on Flathead Lake’s west shore.
None of the houses were occupied at the time of the Friday night explosion, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
“It is believed that there was a leak in the propane line in the crawl space under the destroyed house and when an electric heater switched on inside, the spark ignited the propane that had collected and caused the house to explode,” Karen Sergeant, public information officer for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, said in a press release Monday.
“The structure directly adjacent to the burning house showed significant structural damage. The third house had some damage to the corner of the structure and the house located across the street was damaged as well.”
Chief Cliff Fire Department was the first department to respond to the scene, just before midnight on Friday the 13th. Polson and Rollins fire departments were called in for assistance.
Firefighters found the house that exploded was actively burning when they arrived. Several 500-gallon propane tanks were behind each of the three houses and were not damaged during the explosion or fire.
Total estimated damage is around $200,000 for the houses, all of which were rental units.
Chief Cliff firefighter Jason Heffner said the blast was heard across the lake as far away as Big Arm. Heffner, who was first on the scene, said debris from the explosion was still falling from the sky as he called dispatch around 11:30 p.m. Friday. Neighbors say the blast caused pictures to shake on their walls.