Man says blast threw him 30 feet

One of four North Idaho residents injured in a residential propane explosion reported being thrown 30 feet through the air by the force of the blast, landing across a driveway in the snow.

He grabbed a 6-year-old family member who was thrown with him and rolled him in the snow to extinguish flames before running to a neighbor’s home for help, according to the man’s mother.

Cody Likkel, 34, and his wife, Jodi Greve, who is about the same age, were reportedly in stable to satisfactory condition Monday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where they were flown following the accident Saturday morning, said Likkel’s mother, Kay Short.

“The blast was so huge it melted Jodi’s hair into (son) Mason’s coat,” she said.

Walls of the house were bowed outward on either end, and windows were blasted out.

All three family members suffered burns over their faces and hands. Likkel was up out of bed Monday moving around the medical center. Greve was being treated in the intensive care unit for a possible neck injury apparently suffered when she, too, was thrown off the porch by the explosion, Short said.

“She is showing marked improvement. She is doing well,” Short said. “She’s able to move.”

Mason was watching cartoons on television and complimenting the care he was getting from the nurses, Short said.

The three family members had apparently gone to view the log home on Durkee Road early Saturday as a prospective new residence to replace their single-wide mobile home, which had burned in November along with the family’s belongings.

The woman who owned the home has been identified as Kathy Ginter, officials said. She was also taken to Harborview for treatment of burns as well. She was listed in satisfactory condition, a hospital spokeswoman said Monday.

Likkel told his mother that he smelled gas when the woman opened the door and knew it could be trouble. The owner reportedly flipped a switch, triggering the explosion, according to sheriff’s deputies.

The exact cause of the explosion remains under investigation, said Northside Fire Protection District Chief Brad Mitton.

“We need to put all the pieces together,” Mitton said. “It might take awhile.”

The Likkel-Greve family has received an outpouring of support in the wake of news accounts of the accident. One woman called from Australia to offer prayers. “We’ve been just surrounded by the kindness of people,” said Short, a teacher at Boulder Creek Academy, a private school near Bonners Ferry.

The family lost their Westmond, Idaho, home and belongings in a fire in November. They had been living in a small apartment in Sandpoint. Their November fire loss was not insured.

Likkel and Greve also have two teenage children, who did not accompany them to the Durkee Road home Saturday.

Short said that her son, Cody Likkel, has no medical insurance, although Greve has medical insurance through her employer, Idaho Forest Management Inc., in Sandpoint. Likkel is working for a Sandpoint-area excavation company.

“They are a hard-working family and good people and struggling to find a way out,” Short said. “They bounced back OK from the fire. They’re just happy to be alive now.”