Propane explosion injures two at Bridger

Two construction workers were burned Friday morning when propane exploded inside the new base lodge at Bridger Bowl ski area.

The men, both plumbers, were working inside the new lodge at about 11 a.m., said Doug Wales, Bridger's marketing director.

"They were working on the southeast corner of the building," he said. The propane, "was ignited by something, we don't know what it was."

The plumbers, who were hired as subcontractors for Rotherham Construction, had shut off the gas from the outside of the building to work on gas lines inside the structure, Phil Rotherham said.

"There was already some gas left in the lines. They were bleeding that out," Rotherham said. "When they bled that out they were in a small room. They opened the door to allow that to escape, it became ignited and it popped."

No one knows for sure what caused the gas to ignite, but Rotherham said it may have been a small heater in the room.

The men walked to the nearby ski patrol building for immediate care. They were then taken by ambulance to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, Wales said.

By late afternoon, Rotherham said, one man had already been sent home.

The other was being kept at the hospital overnight for observation because of burns on his hands, but Rotherham said he was in "OK" condition.

Terry Abelin, executive director of Bridger, and Wales were in a staff meeting at the time of the explosion and said they did not hear it.

Abelin did not yet know the extent of damage to the lodge, but said some sheet rock had been blown off a portion of the unfinished walls.

Rotherham said the damage was relatively minor.

"It was kind of a curious deal. In the room where it happened, it didn't blow the light bulbs out," he said. "My superintendent was in the (neighboring) trailer and he didn't know it happened until someone came and advised him."

A ski school instructor, however, heard the blast and reported it to the ski patrol. Someone also called 911, and Bridger Canyon firefighters went to the ski area.

But Dan Astrom, of the Bridger Canyon Fire District, said when firefighters arrived, there was no fire.

His crew walked through the building with the Rotherham Construction site supervisor to investigate the incident, which at first was thought to have been caused by a propane leak.

"It wasn't a leak at all," Rotherham said Friday afternoon. "They intentionally were bleeding the system. The gas didn't dissipate because of the small room. They didn't give it enough time."