Community reaches out after explosion as investigators blame gas leak (UPDATE)

Destinites Mike Blanchard and Claudia Faye Boroughs sustained severe burns on Thursday when an explosion caught their home on fire.

“He sustained burns to over 95 percent of his body,” said Fire Chief Kevin Sasser. “My guess is that they went to investigate the leak and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Destin firefighters responding to 217 Calhoun Ave. found the engaged couple outside with Boroughs' son, who did not sustain injuries in the blast, when they arrived on the scene shortly after 10 a.m. According to Sasser, the blaze was extinguished within five minutes.

Boroughs' was badly burned from the waste up, but was sitting up when firefighters arrived. Blanchard was lying unclothed on a sheet in the yard with severe burns covering his body. He was overheard saying that the blast blew his clothes off, according to an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office report.

Sasser said that despite the severity of their injuries, the two were alert and responsive when firefighters arrived. The victims told Sasser that they instructed the child to go outside when they began to smell gas. The explosion occurred shortly after, as the couple was investigating the source of the smell.

A neighbor was watching Boroughs' son until a sister could travel from Alabama to be with him, an e-mailed prayer chain stated.

“Please pray for all of them. Ask the Lord to intervene in this terrible situation,” the e-mail stated.

As word spread about the tragedy, Destin United Methodist, the couple’s church home, quickly mobilized to take donations for the family.

Sasser said that the explosion was caused by a natural gas leak, but the source of the leak has not yet been determined. A crew from Okaloosa County Gas was at the home yesterday, investigating the leak, turning off the gas and locking the gas meter until the leak can be repaired.

“The explosion occurred in a hallway utility room located between the garage and the rest of the house,” Sasser said. “The state fire marshall determined that the gas was ignited by the pilot light in the furnace, which is in that utility room.”

The blast blew the garage door of the home off, sending it skipping over a car parked in the driveway. Many items within the garage were also blown into the driveway, and the front door was destroyed. Officials estimated the damage at $75,000.

After investigators and emergency responders cleared the scene, the homeowners arrived to board up the residence. It will be closed off until the source of the gas leak can be determined and repaired.

Both victims were life-flighted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, and later moved to South Alabama Burn Center in Mobile, according to Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Michele Nicholson.

Want to help?
To make a donation to the Blanchard family, call their church, Destin United Methodist Church, at 850-837-2021 or mail checks payable to the Blanchard family to 200 Beach Drive, Destin, FL 32541. For the latest on this story, see thedestinlog.com

To read yesterday's story, click here.

Click here to see more photos from the scene.

This story comes from Jeff Barker at our sister paper, the Northwest Florida Daily News.

DESTIN — The two victims burned by Thursday’s gas explosion are in critical condition.

The explosion was caused by natural gas, according to Lieutenant Kevin Fiddor of the state Fire Marshal’s office. It occurred just after a natural gas-powered dryer was turned off, according to an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office report. The victims, Michael Blanchard, 49, and Faye Boroughs, 40, are in critical condition at South Alabama Burn Center in Mobile, Ala., according to Mimi Ramirez, Blanchard’s sister.

Blanchard was burned on 98 percent of his body, Ramirez said. Only the bottoms of his feet remained unburned. Doctors at the hospital were forced to medically paralyze Blanchard.

“They had to paralyze him so he would not bite the air tube,” Ramirez said.

Boroughs, Blanchard’s fiancee, was burned on 33 percent of her body, from her neck to her waist, including both arms, Ramirez said. The engaged couple’s 2-year-old son, Will, is safe with family members.

Destin firefighters responded to an explosion and house fire at 217 Calhoun Ave. just after 10 a.m. Thursday. A deputy responding to the scene found Boroughs sitting on the edge of a truck’s tailgate with a blanket draped over her, according to the Sheriff’s Office report. Boroughs was badly burned from the waist up but alert and responsive, the report said.

The deputy found Blanchard badly burned all over his body lying naked on a sheet in the yard, the report said. Blanchard told the deputy that the explosion blew his clothing off.

The couple’s child was inside the house at the time of the explosion but was unharmed, the report said.

Okaloosa gas arrived on the scene to check for a gas leak after the victims were taken by helicopter to a hospital.

Firefighters at the scene said the explosion sent the garage door flying off of the garage and over the Honda parked in the driveway.

As of Friday afternoon, the state Fire Marshal’s office knew the cause of the explosion, Fiddor said. The office said it would not yet release details.

There was no evidence suggesting that the explosion was drug related, Ramirez said.

According to the Sheriff’s Office report, Blanchard smelled natural gas and turned off the natural-gas powered clothes dryer. The explosion occurred when he turned off the dryer.

Blanchard played quarterback while attending Choctawhatchee Senior High School, Ramirez said. His 1977 Indians were the first from Choctawhatchee to reach the state championship game.

Blanchard owns the Pool Doctor in Fort Walton Beach, which was once owned by his parents, Ramirez said. Both Blanchard and Ramirez are members of Destin United Methodist Church.

“Our heart goes out to the family,” said Gary Long, a spokesman for Okaloosa Gas.