Explosion Levels Home, Hurts Four Three Severely Injured Victims Flown To Spokane Hospital

A propane explosion obliterated a rural home south of town late Tuesday, severely injuring three people.

A Bonner County sheriff’s deputy saw and heard the 8 p.m. explosion from four miles away. The two-story house was on Dufort Road, about 10 miles southwest of Sandpoint.

“I looked across the river and saw a cloud of dust … no flames and no smoke,” sheriff’s Detective John Valdez said. “We can’t believe anyone made it out alive.”

Diane Pass lived in the home with her husband, Dave Holland. They had just installed a propane system on Monday, officials at the scene said.

Pass, Holland and another couple were sitting down to dinner when the explosion thundered through the home, leaving nothing but wood splinters scattered at the scene. Insulation from the house was blown more than 100 feet away.

Two people - Pass and a juvenile girl - were trapped in the rubble and had to be extricated by emergency workers. Neighbors heard screams from the victims trapped in the basement - all that remained of the home - and rushed to help. One neighbor comforted the women while firefighters braved live electrical wires to free them.

Holland and the girl’s boyfriend, also a juvenile, reportedly made it outside.

Officials did not release the names of the juveniles.

Three victims - including Pass and the juvenile girl - were flown in separate helicopters to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

The fourth victim was taken to Bonner General Hospital in Sandpoint.

Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are expected to inspect the scene this morning. The owner of the home, Leo Pass Jr., earlier this year brought a bomb to the Bonner County Courthouse. Pass told sheriff’s deputies that he had discovered the explosive device in his woodstove and that someone was trying to kill him. Pass - Diane Pass’s brother - took the homemade device to the courthouse in a plastic bucket, where it was confiscated.

Late Tuesday, emergency workers swept the paved road in the darkness, hoping to save evidence from the blast. However, officials believed the explosion was caused by a fuel leak.