BY ANNIE HOLLER
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
LOWMANSVILLE — A propane tank explosion during a winter storm Sunday night destroyed a rented mobile home along U.S. 23 and left three adults with nothing but the clothes they escaped in, according to family members.
Michael Maynard, his girlfriend Amanda Harrison and his brother Marty Maynard lost their home and all personal belongings when flames shot from a propane tank as the brothers attempted to restore heat to the residence near the Lawrence–Johnson county line.
The fire occurred shortly after 9:30 p.m. as snow and freezing temperatures gripped the region and electrical outages were a concern.
According to Maynard’s daughter, Katie Spradlin, who lives behind the rental home, the family’s heat had stopped working earlier in the evening. Believing the tank was empty, the two brothers went outside to replace it with a full 100-pound tank.
“With the bad weather we were having and the fear of losing electricity, we thought the safest thing to do would be for my children to stay at dad’s since he had a backup heat source and I did not,” Spradlin explained. Her two children, ages 3 and 1, were inside the home at the time.
“Around 9:30 p.m., my dad and uncle went to change out the propane tank for another. There was ice on the tank and Dad couldn’t get the regulator loose. So he was using pliers to try to break up the ice to unscrew it.”
Spradlin said her father believes striking the metal pliers against the metal tank caused sparks that ignited escaping gas.
“Dad said the flames shot up the back wall of the trailer. And although he and his brother tried to extinguish them, the fire quickly spread,” she said. “They ran around the front and yelled for Amanda, who helped grab my kids and their two dogs and got them outside safely.”
Fire crews responded despite slick and hazardous road conditions, but the structure was already engulfed.
The mobile home was a total loss.
“To watch my daddy be so devastated is heartbreaking,” Spradlin said. “He has worked so hard to have what little they did have and to have to stand and see the pain on his face while he watched it all go up in smoke was just about more than I can stand.”
She said that even as the flames spread, her father’s only concern was his grandchildren and Harrison.
“If my children would have been injured in the least little bit, it would have destroyed him. We know that even though it will be a struggle and we aren’t sure how long it will take him to begin to recover, if something would have happened to his grandchildren, that would have been the end of him.”
Maynard is a lifelong Martin County resident who moved away two years ago but still maintains close family ties there.
In the days since the fire, Spradlin has organized a donation drive to help the family rebuild.
Her father and uncle both wear size 32×32 pants and size large shirts and jackets, with shoe sizes 10.5 and 9.5. Harrison wears size 2X shirts, sweaters and jackets, size 22 pants and size 10 shoes.
Undergarments, socks, pajamas, personal hygiene items and cold-weather gear such as gloves, scarves and toboggans are also needed. Donations of dog food are also requested to help care for the family’s two dogs while they are temporarily housed elsewhere.
“We would be very grateful for cash donations, as well as furniture and household items,” Spradlin said. “They need everything at this point, and anyone who wishes to donate items or give a monetary donation can contact me at 304-928-3777, and we will make arrangements for pickup and storage.”
She said the American Red Cross is assisting the displaced family in securing an apartment in Paintsville and hopes donations will help cover furniture, deposits and other upfront costs.
“I know there are so many that are having it rough right now, but I am praying hard that those who can will step up and help my dad. I know he would definitely do the same if the shoe were on the other foot.”