Grand Lake home explosion kills woman

Home explosions and apartment fires make news around the United States daily. Simply set a Google alert for “home explosion” or “apartment fire,” and your inbox will be inundated with updates.

Here is a sampling of headlines from the past few days:

Grand Lake home explosion
kills one, injures another

From Sky-Hi News, Grand County, Colorado: A Grand Lake home explosion in the early-morning hours Sunday claimed the life of a woman and resulted in serious injuries to her husband. Authorities identified the woman as Susan Ann McLean, 67, of Grand Lake.

According to the Grand County Sheriff’s Office, an explosion occurred at about 12:30 a.m. inside the McLeans’ home, located on Mad Moose Lane, west of Grand Lake just off Golf Course Road.

The explosion also resulted in serious injuries to Susan Ann McLean’s husband, Mark McLean, 63. He was transported to the burn treatment center at Swedish Medical in Englewood, a suburb of Denver. Authorities said they do not believe his injuries to be life-threatening.

Authorities said Mark McLean made it to a neighbor’s home shortly after the explosion, but he told them he had no recollection of how he had gotten outside of his house.

Lt. Dan Mayer, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said a dog also was believed to be in the residence at the time of the explosion. It is believed to have died in the explosion.

Officials from the sheriff’s office said an investigation is ongoing, and that no determination had been made regarding the explosion’s cause. Authorities from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation will assist with the investigation.

According to Mayer, debris that was not burnt was found as far as 150 to 200 feet away from the home.

Grand Lake is located about 100 miles northwest of Denver.

A Grand Lake home explosion in the early-morning hours Sunday claimed the life of a Colorado woman and resulted in serious injuries to her husband. Authorities identified the woman as Susan Ann McLean, 67; her husband, 63-year-old Mark McLean, was taken to Swedish Medical in Englewood.

D.C. apartment fire
claims life of man, 72

From the Washington Post: A man died Monday in a D.C. apartment fire, authorities said.

The fire was reported at about 8:45 Monday morning in a garden-style apartment complex in the 4700 block of Benning Road SE, in the Benning Ridge neighborhood. A fire department spokesperson said the fire was contained to a single apartment on the third floor, where firefighters found an injured man, who was alone in the apartment.

A spokesman for D.C. police said the man later died. He was identified as Reginald Beckham, 72, of Southeast.

The fire was quickly extinguished, and the spokesperson said investigators were searching for a cause. Firefighters also said a cat was found dead.

Autopsy completed for man
killed in McCall home explosion

From idahonews.com: The autopsy for a man killed March 17 in a McCall home explosion has been completed. Coroner Scott Carver told CBS 2 that while the initial autopsy has been completed, a full report likely will take anywhere between six to eight weeks to be finished. Carver said he expects the identification of the man likely will be released by the end of this week.

Crews were called out to a home on Fairway Drive on March 17 after the explosion destroyed the home, “leaving a crater and debris field hundreds of yards across.”

A 15-year-old girl was pulled from the debris and flown to Boise. Information on her condition has not been released.