CORRECTION RAN TUESDAY (4/9/02)
The first name of the resident whose family escaped their Lake City home during a natural gas explosion was incorrect on Page 3B Monday. No one in the James Cote family was injured in the blast.
-------------------------------------------------------- By Bob Freund
freund@postbulletin.com
LAKE CITY -- A Lake City family was uninjured Sunday night after a small explosion and fire apparently caused by a natural gas leak.
ADVERTISEMENT
A neighbor who is a plumber quickly shut off the gas to the mobile home in Edge O' Town Mobile Home Park, Lake City Fire Chief Bob Kemp said this morning. About 20 Lake City firefighters responded.
Residents of about 25 trailers within 150 feet of the John Cote home were evacuated for about 45 minutes as a precaution. Firefighters extinguished a fire beneath the mobile home, and it did not spread, Kemp said. There were no injuries.
Despite fearing the worst, Kemp said, "It turned out to be the best it could have been."
At least three members of the Cote family were in the house when the explosion occurred at about 6 p.m. It was strong enough to blow some bedroom doors off their hinges, Kemp said.
Two passing pizza delivery people saw the explosion and fire and helped the people inside leave, according to police. They reported "a loud boom and flames coming out the back of the trailer," said Lake City Police Sgt. Gary Majchrzak.
