Orland home a total loss after suspected propane explosion

ORLAND, Maine (WABI) - A house is destroyed and four people were injured in an explosion and fire in Orland on Soper Rd. Friday morning.

“Just after 9 a.m., we received a 911 call down at the Regional Communications Center for a building explosion,” explains Orland Fire Chief Bobby Conary. “They had some propane leakage it sounds like over the last couple of days built up or they had a catastrophic failure of their propane system. They shut the tank off, went to investigate and the building exploded.”

Authorities say all four people who were in the home sustained injuries. Bucksport Ambulance transported two people who had non-life-threatening injuries, while one was LifeFlighted with “significant burns” and the other was ground transported with “severe trauma,” per Chief Conary.

The house, located right on Alamoosook Lake, was a total loss when first responders arrived.

”Our first arriving units found the building demolished, but not yet on fire during the process of their gathering the wounded and investigating, the building ignited, and now is a complete loss,” Chief Conary describes of the initial scene. “We got a lot of firefighters here from different departments. We’re all shorthanded so we’ve gathered a lot from around the area to give us a hand.”

The family’s dog Zeus was missing for a few hours after the incident. Thankfully, he was located

With windy conditions on the lakeside property, Chief Conary says it made it difficult to respond.

He went on to say he has not seen anything like this before.

Chief Conary advises the public that smelling propane is not something to ignore, “If they smell propane, they should certainly contact their heating specialist or propane company. Don’t wait, don’t let it get stronger. If you do smell it back at your residence, don’t turn anything off or on. A lot of times what will happen is you’ll flip a switch, little spark will ignite, or something that’s running might create a spark that will cause that to ignite.”