Juneau, AK – Michael Penn, Juneau Empire – Capital City Fire and Rescue crews took a man to Bartlett Regional Hospital late Friday afternoon after the small travel trailer he had been living in near Auke Bay exploded.
Juneau Fire Marshal Richard Etheridge said at the scene that the man, who he did not identify, suffered burns to his face, but was in stable condition and talking to emergency personnel on the way to the hospital.
No updated condition was available.
Firefighters received a report of the explosion at about 5:15 p.m. The man had begun living in the travel trailer in a lot across Glacier Highway from the Alaska Marine Highway’s Auke Bay terminal a short time before the fire, Etheridge said. The apparent propane explosion destroyed the trailer, he added. Even the tires among the debris firefighters hosed down were flattened.
The cause of the explosion and fire remain under investigation, he said. Initially, it appeared the trailer resident could have sparked it while trying to light a lamp or a stove after the propane heater was disconnected, Etheridge said.