Propane explosion shakes Whitefish

A crew of construction workers were thanking their lucky stars Thursday morning after a large propane explosion shook Whitefish awake, but amazingly left no injuries and minimal damage in its wake.

According to Whitefish Fire Chief Joe Page, a malfunction in a propane heater allowed gas to fill up the basement of a new townhouse under construction on Stumptown Loop Road off State Park Road.

An electrical extension cord from the heater was connected to a power outlet outside. When crews arrived for work at 7:15 a.m. they plugged in the cord which set off the explosion.

Construction worker Craig Calkins was standing just a few feet from the townhouse when the fireball went off. He said decking for the first floor of the home was ripped off and thrown about 30 feet into the air.

He said he felt the blast, but that it didn’t throw him or any of the other workers.

“We’re lucky,” he said. “We were shaking for awhile after that.”

The explosion was felt throughout the neighborhood and even across town.

“When we arrived we saw neighbors walking around in the street trying to figure out what happened,” Page said.

The fireball went off so fast that nothing caught fire or was even charred, Page said. There was slight damage to a nearby fence, but otherwise no damage was reported.

“We got lucky on this one,” Page said.