Duluth Homeowner Makes Explosive Mistake With Propane

DULUTH, Minn. – A Duluth homeowner recently faced severe burns after being hit with a ball of fire while trying to connect his pool heater to a propane gas line.  It’s something he said could have been avoided if he left it to the experts, and now he’s sharing his story so others don’t face the same danger.

“It was the scariest thing. I didn’t know … if I was on fire or what. It was like a bubble around me, like it was foggy. But it was a bubble all the way around me and I couldn’t see and it only lasted probably a second or two,” said Mike Letica who was injured in the gas explosion.

Letica said he had been trying to connect everything himself when he started to smell gas. 

“I was going to shut the gas off and I thought … I’ll walk over 50 feet to get a pipe wrench. I took my first step there, boom, this huge explosion as soon as I took a step. So, if I would have reached down and shut that off then, it would have blew up right in my face,” Letica said.

The flames created first and second-degree burns to his lower legs – something he didn’t even realize until the adrenaline wore off.

“I don’t know how to describe the pain other than every single nerve….I think what happens is the blood must be flowing because I was up so the blood goes down to my feet. And while it does that, I’m guessing it’s nailing every nerve, you know, down there and it was like a fiery, burning, painful type thing. I’ve had knee surgeries, replacements, shoulder replacements I’ve had problems my side. I’ve never experienced a pain like this,” Letica explained.

Letica said it was all avoidable.

“So people realize like, hey, if I smell propane I better just run and shut it off and then be done with it you know? Because I didn’t, I smelt it and I tried to find the leak and I hooked it up and I hooked it up wrong. I mean everything I did was wrong,” Letica said.

Duluth firefighter Pete Johnson agreed with Letica — whether it’s a pool heater, gas grill or any other fuel source.

“Treat them as serious as you possibly can, I mean … you think it’s just a small propane tank on your deck. But if that starts to off gas, and it finds a fuel source that turns into basically a flame thrower torch,” Johnson said.

And when it comes to injuries from flash burns, Johnson said it’s best to call 911 for an evaluation because concerns can go deeper than the eye can see.

“If somebody inhales at the same time, right, they’re startled, they take a deep breath in and if they get that superheated air into their lungs. Over time that tissue that’s damaged starts to swell and everything else and we worry about their airways being compromised and then not being able to breathe later,” Johnson said.

For Letica, his lungs are fine and his legs are slowly healing. And as he continues to heal this summer, he understands it was one close call that could have been so much worse.

“You don’t think about things like this until it happens. And like I said, if I can stop one, 200 people from not doing something stupid with propane, whether it’s this, whether it’s a fireplace, whatever it is, you smell propane, shut it off and just let somebody else deal with it or change a tank or whatever you need to do. But yeah, this is — it’s really bad stuff. And I’m telling you that I never want to have this happen again, to me or anybody else. It’s a different kind of pain,” Letica said.

Letica also learned a lesson on caring for burns. At first, he wasn’t going to go to the hospital but eventually did. The doctor told him exposed skin can get easily infected from even what’s floating in the air.

Johnson said to never be afraid to call 911 to let the professionals treat and decide on scene whether the hospital is needed.