Two teens staying at a family hunting property narrowly escaped injury Wednesday as their hunting cabin caught fire after a nearby storage container exploded.
The hunting cabin, located on a 300 acre property near Lake Brownwood, was equipped with a solar electric system and a filtered water harvesting system that were both housed in the nearby sea container (similar to a railroad car).
According to Brownwood Fire Marshal Buddy Preston, the owner had recently installed a propane wall heater in the sea container to protect the water system from freezing up in cold weather. Preston said that the heater developed a leak and filled the container with fumes and propane gas. When one of the teenage boys started his shower on Wednesday, the electric motor sparked and caused an explosion, blowing the heavy metal doors off the container. One door hit a 300 gallon diesel tank, spilling the diesel onto the ground, and fueling a grass fire. This fire burned under another 300 gallon gasoline container which exploded and landed 100 yards away. One of the doors was found 100 yards from the cabin in the driveway and another was blown 100 yards away from the cabin on a hill Preston reported.
The male teens were shaken but uninjured; however the cabin was destroyed by the fire.
Pictured above are firefighters at the cabin surrounded by smoke. Photo contributed.
