Large Settlement in Propane House Explosion Lawsuit

This is a story about a sad death, a long legal battle and a great resolution of a claim. Thanks to the amazing Genavieve Perino for her great work in this case. 

We represent Joe Jr. for the death of his father, Joe Sr. Joe Sr. rented a house in Lebanon, Missouri for a couple years. He had moved there after retiring from the Kansas City police department. He was retired and wanted to live a peaceful retired life. 

But on February 18, 2021, Joe Sr. was inside his rented home when it exploded. He was thrown out the northwest wall of the house into the front yard. He was severely injured and died from his injuries the following day. 

We were contacted pretty quickly, but not before the fire department had finished its investigation. We knew it was a propane explosion, and we had handled those cases before, so we were able to get our experts to the scene right away. I’ll tell you how badly the propane pipes were rusted below. From our investigation, we knew we had three liable parties. We filed suit right away and began to litigate. 

Investigations by the fire marshal and the city found that the explosion originated in the crawl space under the home. They concluded that the point of origin of the explosion was a leaking propane line in the crawl space along the ground near the southeast corner of the northeast room. The line was rusted and damaged with a hole. 

The investigators dug up the remains of the home to examine the propane lines. They discovered a hole approximately 3/16th inches in diameter in the rusted iron propane line, which was partially buried in the ground beneath what was the kitchen. They concluded that this leak allowed the accumulation of propane gas into the crawl space which was ignited and exploded.

We learned that prior to the explosion, Joe Sr. frequently experienced issues getting his landlords and the property management company to repair and maintain the house and property. They had a pattern and practice of inadequately responding to complaints and repairing the premises. Joe Jr. told us that he and his dad frequently discussed this and Joe Sr. was preparing to move out of the property due to the repetitive issues and the uncaring landlord and property management company. 

This is contrary the landlord’s representations and duties. Under the law, the landlord warrants that the rental property is habitable and safe, including the propane gas piping and system. None of this was true and the landlord did not really care. When the landlord went to the scene the day of the explosion, witnesses heard her lament that she had just put a new roof on the house and said nothing about her dead tenant.  

We learned that Joe Sr. used propane to heat his home, water heater, and for cooking fuel. In the summer of 2020, six months before the explosion, his propane company moved his propane tank and had to connect it to the existing propane line in the house. They were supposed to perform pressure tests to ensure that there were no propane leaks and were supposed to look at the pipes to make sure they were not rusted.  

Some of these photos were taken by our client who was on the scene and was able to obtain great pictures. So, remember, always be willing to take pictures or investigate on your own. 

Owners and landlords of property have a duty to their tenant to maintain the propane gas system and the propane pipes reasonably safe. The propane gas pipe with a hole, as part of an active propane gas system, located under the rental property was a dangerous condition. The landlords knew or could have known of the dangerous condition at the time of the explosion and before. They were responsible for inspecting, repairing, and maintaining the propane system, including the gas pipe under the home. 

They hired a management company to assist them with this. The management company acted under the control of and as the landlord’s agent for the purposes of maintaining, inspecting, and repairing the property, including the propane system and the propane pipes under the house.

The landlord and the management company failed: 

1. to inspect the propane lines to ensure they were safe;
2. to adequately maintain and repair the propane system;
3. to provide a safe propane system free from holes in the propane pipes and free from explosions; 
4. to identify failed and rusted propane pipes under the house; and
5. to warn Joe Sr. of the old, rusted and damaged condition of the propane pipes or that propane could collect under the house and be dangerous and explode. 

Under the doctrine of respondeat superior and/or agency, the Landlord was also responsible for the negligence of the management company.  

The rusting and bad condition of the pipes showed that the landlord and management company were negligent and contributed to cause the explosion. When they put in the new tank 6 months before, they attached it within two feet of the pipe with the hole in the above picture. 

The propane company was negligent too. They had actually delivered propane that morning to Joe Sr. But that really just delivered more fuel to the fire and explosion. 

All of the defendants knew or could have known of the dangerous condition of the propane pipe. None of the defendants used ordinary care to repair, replace, remedy, or warn of the dangerous condition. As a direct and proximate result of the negligence and carelessness of all three defendants, Joe, Sr. died. 

We got some great admissions in the depos. The management company did not really look at the propane pipes despite having that as a listed item of inspection on their inspection sheet and did not communicate with the landlord about the propane. I hope the tenants at the hundreds of other properties they manage do not know the management company thinks nothing can be done to prevent explosions of the homes they lease, and testified that the rental properties are all “ticking time bombs.” They would not install a $28 propane detector.

The propane company did nothing to prevent the explosion or detect the leak and falsely led Joe Sr. to believe the propane system was safe. A propane employee was at Joe’s home just hours before the explosion and no propane person ever looked for or assessed the corroded pipes to address the obvious safety hazards posed by the deteriorating propane lines. A propane employee admitted that it would have been appropriate for him to go into the crawl space and look at the pipes, but that he failed to do so. He also acknowledged that if he had opened the access panel and seen other piping that looked corroded, he would not hook a tank up to it because it could potentially form a leak in the future. The propane company’s negligence allowed the pipe to continue to corrode unabated and develop a hole that leaked propane, which dangerously accumulated until the deadly explosion.

You would think that with such a bad case, the defendants would want to settle for a fair amount right away. But of course, they did not. We had to litigate, conduct massive discovery, take over 25 depositions, prepare out experts, etc. We had propane experts, cause and origin of explosion experts, and metallurgic experts. The landlord filed a Motion for Summary Judgment claiming the case should be dismissed, but we were able to defeat it. It was only at the 11th hour with the back against the wall that we were able to secure a good settlement. It was so good, the other side insisted on confidentiality. So, I cannot tell you how much. 

Gary Burger

Founder | Injury Attorney
Gary Burger has dedicated his career to standing up against bullies. The founder and principal attorney of Burger Law | St. Louis Personal Injury Lawyer has helped hundreds of Missouri and Illinois individuals and families recover th …
Years of experience: 30 years
Location: St. Louis, MO

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