A home in East Bethel exploded on Monday morning after a heater in the basement of the house malfunctioned, according to one person familiar with the matter.
Joe Green, the owner of 3 Way Electric, shared what happened in the home, as he had two employees working in the house when it exploded.
Green said his workers caught the smell of propane as they arrived at the home and immediately went to turn off the heater.
However, the heater didn’t stay off, as later, a third person working inside the home attempted to re-light it, something Green says wasn’t “a big red flag.”
“It’s winter construction, and there’s a lot of people that heat the basements to thaw out the floors so you can get the floors poured to keep moving along with the project. So it wasn’t out of the ordinary, or it didn’t throw off a big red flag,” Green shared.
Green says that “apparently not all of the propane was out of the house” as the explosion came after he tried to light it.
Green shared that those inside the home were lucky to get out alive, adding that the house’s support beams could have easily come down on them.
“One of the firefighters said that he is the most blessed person he has seen in any of the fire damage experiences he has seen because of the way the house blew apart” it’s a miracle he made it alive, Green said.
The two employees have been identified as 37-year-old Keith Hyovalti and 47-year-old James Wells. Green says they were injured in the explosion but are now in stable condition.
The third man injured, a home builder according to Green, was identified as 47-year-old William Swanson, and he is also in stable condition.
“You thank God that they are still with us today,” Green said. “It’s bad, but hopefully, they can be 100% again.”
Green said that he and the owners of the house were scheduled to meet at the home and may have been there during the explosion had they all not been running late.
Anoka county officials have not yet released their findings from the explosion.
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