Propane blamed in fatal blast at casino
Propane gas inside a storage container was the initial fuel of a flash fire that killed two Coeur d’Alene Casino maintenance workers June 29, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday.
A report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives indicates the gas may have been ignited by the exhaust of the pickup truck the workers drove up to the container, said sheriff’s Lt. Kim Edmondson.
The fire that killed Donald S. Hanson, 56, and Richard E. Stokes, 49, both of Washington, also could have been started by the static or “keying” of the radios the men wore, the ATF report indicates. The temperature that day was about 100 degrees, which also may have contributed to the blast, Edmondson added.
None of the scenarios has been pinpointed as the cause, she said.
The case is an open investigation and has been forwarded to the Kootenai County prosecutor’s office and the U.S. attorney in Coeur d’Alene for review of possible criminal and civil charges, said Steven Lowhurst, resident agent in charge for the Spokane field office of the ATF.
Lowhurst would not comment on what the potential criminal charges might be, but the flash fire is considered accidental, he said.
Since the incident, the Coeur d’Alene Casino has created a safety committee and instituted several policies concerning fireworks to keep employees and guests safe, said Bob Bostwick, the casino’s director of public relations and communications.
“Something that is very significant, of course, is that no commercial fireworks will be here ever,” Bostwick said. “Our personnel will never be responsible for something like that.”
He added that the storage containers – large shipping crates stacked side by side behind the casino – will be removed and a permanent storage facility built in their place.
“Of course, I think the important thing from our standpoint right now is the steps we’re taking to ensure safety,” Bostwick said.
The “gas flash fire,” which Lowhurst said was similar to the “whoosh” of a propane gas barbecue that doesn’t light right away, set off commercial fireworks in the storage container. Lowhurst wouldn’t say whether the fireworks exploded immediately or after some time.
Investigators also have not confirmed whether the gas came from propane tanks in the container, Lowhurst said. The ATF conducted the fire investigation and released few details to the Sheriff’s Department and news media.
Hanson lived in Fairfield, Wash., and Stokes was from Rockford, Wash. After the two men were killed, casino officials canceled the Fourth of July fireworks show, but not because the fireworks for the show had exploded inside the container, Bostwick said.
“That was not stuff that was going to be used in the show,” he said, adding that it was a small amount of fireworks. “Our fireworks had not actually arrived yet. The show was canceled because of the loss of Don and Rich.”