Explosion in house injures 4

An explosion believed to have been caused by a propane leak injured four people Saturday at a home about 12 miles north of Sandpoint.

The victims suffered second- and third-degree burns, mostly to the face and hands, said Capt. John Valdez of the Bonner County Sheriff’s Department.

After emergency treatment, they were airlifted to Seattle for treatment at Harborview Medical Center.

The family victims were identified as Cody Likkel and his wife, Jodi Greve, both believed to be 35, and her 6-year-old son, Mason. The name of the real-estate agent, a 51-year-old woman, was unavailable. The agent was showing the family a rental house, authorities said.

According to published reports in The Spokesman-Review, Likkel and Greve lost their Westmond, Idaho, home and all of their belongings when the family’s single-wide trailer caught fire in November.

Hospital officials said the boy and one of the adults were in serious condition; the conditions of the other two were not available.

Spokane’s Channel 22 News reported that Likkel’s mother, Kay Short, said her son noticed a smell of gas when he entered the house. When the agent turned on a light, there was an explosion, the report said.

After Saturday’s blast, the four victims went to a neighbor’s house to call for help, Bonner County Sheriff Elaine Savage said.

The house was not leveled by the explosion and fire, but walls were damaged and all the windows were shattered.